Three's a Crowd
by Lunar Mist
Summary: They were only hatchlings. How were they supposed to know how important both factions of the war viewed them? Well, if they get energon every night and a good cuddle, then they'll be happy. Well, a stable caretaker would be nice, too.
1. Chapter 1

Klik- under a second

Breem- 8.3 minutes

Joor- 6 hours

Orn- 2 weeks

Vorn- 83 years

Disclaimer: I do not own transformers. I do own all the OCs, though, and the plot. Enjoy, folks.

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><p><span>Chapter 1<span>

Her optics onlined for the first time, and at the exact same moment, two other sets of optics lit up. She looked through the thin sac that kept her from the harsh outside world. She could see lots of flat surfaces and weird objects. A tugging feeling in her spark grabbed her easily diverted attention. Two tugging feelings, actually. She gave a curious chirp before returning the weird tugging feeling. Love, confusion, and curiosity flooded her body. She gave a delighted squeal before returning the feelings. Then again, she didn't really know how _not _to. She could _feel_ the two others, and she knew that they were nearby.

_**Squeak squeak chirp click!**_

Two small chirps answered her call. She trilled when the feelings of recognition and love flowed through again. They knew her, too. She sent more happy feelings with a delighted chirp. Now she just had to get free. She was tired of being in this thing.

_**Squeakekekekeke! Beep chirp whirl!**_ She called out.

_**Chirp,**_ one answered as the other clicked. Dang. Neither of them knew how to get out either. So much for that. Nevertheless, she was undeterred. She wanted out. She wanted to be able to stretch more. With a small click, she pressed her hands against the thin sac. Nothing happened, so she pressed her face up against it. She giggled at the funny way it made her face plates feel. She moved backward and poked at the thin material. She gave a squeak of surprise when her claw-like finger pierced the material. The warm gel around her suddenly began draining through the hole, forcing the hole to become larger to accommodate the amount of liquid being forced out. She gave a shrill cry when she suddenly started slipping through the hole herself. She received the most disorienting feeling of air rushing past her.

"What the slag!" A large mech surged forward and quickly caught her in large servos. She gave a trill of delight. That had been quite a fun ride. Could she do it again? She looked up inquiringly at the winged mech holding her. She looked over her shoulder and wiggled her own winglets. She was just like this mech! He would undoubtedly let her have more fun! Her short attention span was disturbed by a shrill cry.

"Gah!" another mech exclaimed as he disappeared in a purple flash. Not a klik later, he reappeared far off to her right. Joyous giggles filled the room, followed by excited clicks and chirps. The mech slowly walked over to the mech holding her.

"Strange. What are the chances of two hatchlings hatching at the same time, Screamer?" the black and purple mech questioned. The silver-ish tan mech frowned as he studied the femling in his servo.

"Very small, Skywarp…" Starscream murmured. His thoughts were cut short when he had to leap forward when he saw another sac hatching in his peripheral vision. He deftly caught the squealing mechling in a servo before standing and glaring at the remaining twenty-eight hatchling sacs. "Anyone else want to hatch?" he snarled. There was no answer, so Starscream moved toward a table, both hatchlings held firmly in his servos. The femling stared at the mech hatchling as he shivered and cried in the mech's other hand.

_**Click click click click. Squeak chirp!**_ She comforted.

"It makes sense, now. A trine," Starscream claimed. "Come, Skywarp. We must get them warmed up and fueled."

"Gotcha, Screamer," Skywarp replied. Starscream glanced at his trinemate as they stopped by a padded table. "TC's on his way," Skywarp added.

"Good. I'll deal with the femme, seeing as she appears to be the trine leader," Starscream stated.

"A femme leading two mechs?"

"Yes. I believe I'll designate her Breakfree because she hatched first," Starscream said, looking down at the white and gray femme as she gnawed on his digit. Her white wings perked at the attention, and her two antennae wiggled as she cooed. Starscream allowed himself to smile as he set the hatchlings down on their stomachs. The two immediately started chirping and whistling excitedly. They stretched in each other's direction, little pedes kicking fruitlessly as they tried to will themselves closer together.

"And the mechs?" Skywarp prompted.

"This one will be Flamefall," he said as he moved the two hatchlings closer together. The hatchling's wings were orange that faded into a red tip, and like the other two, his body, aside from his wings, was completely gray. Said mechling squealed with delight and cuddled closer to his trine leader, white optics dimming happily as he rubbed his helm against his leader's. Breakfree rolled her little purple optics at his enthusiasm, but allowed him to cuddle with her, even cuddled back. The hatchling in Skywarp's servos whined as he watched his trine mates interact. Skywarp took the hint and laid the hatchling on the other side of the femme, resulting in the seekerlet being cuddled from both sides.

"He shall be called Bluewing." This wasn't a surprise to Skywarp, seeing as the hatchling's wings were light blue with a single violet stripe on each one. The mech had an optic band, though, instead of two separate optics. Skywarp knew that this would probably be a problem when the mech went into battle. Normally, a mech could still see when one of his optics was shot out, but a mech with an optics band was immediately blinded by one shot.

_**Click. Click. Click. Click. Squeak…**_

Skywarp looked down to see that the two mechs were in a light stasis, and the femme wasn't very far behind. Starscream gently covered the three hatchlings with an oversized blanket to protect them from the cold air. His gaze remained on the three seekerlets as they entered recharge.

"We must keep Scalpel away from them. If he finds out about them, they're as good as dead," Starscream stated.

"He will want to study them, as well as Shockwave," a familiar dark blue mech stated as he walked to the table holding the three hatchlings. "Greetings, Starscream. Skywarp."

"Greetings, Thundercracker," Starscream replied softly.

"Hiya, TC!" Skywarp chirped. Breakfree gave distressed whistled and twitched in her sleep. Both mechs glared at Skywarp.

"Don't wake them up!" Starscream hissed. The three watched as the femme cuddled closer to Bluewing, which cause Flamefall to move over a little to get closer to her as well.

"Cute. Guess they're a trine?" Thundercracker murmured, looking at Starscream.

"Yes. Breakfree, the femme, is the leader," Starscream replied, "and this is Flamefall, and that's Bluewing."

"We're going to keep them, right?" Thundercracker asked in a semi-pleading voice, as paternal programming came online.

"Of course. They are seekers and will be raised by fellow seekers. We must keep this from Megatron. We will tell him that they died, just like the other ones," Starscream informed the others as he poured low-grade into three small bottles. "Pick a mech. As much as I hate having to bring them from their recharge, they must be fueled before they activate all their recharge protocols."

Skywarp wasted no time in lifting Bluewing into his hand. The hatchling gave a squawk of disapproval as his optic band lit up. Breakfree onlined one optics and squeaked once at Bluewing as he was wrapped in a blue blanket. The mechling gave Breakfree an anxious look, but quieted down. Skywarp grabbed a bottle, and the ginormous mech held the little rubber tubing to the hatchling's mouth plates.

Bluewing squirmed, not liking that the mech had not only separated him from the femme and mech that made him feel happy, but was now sticking a rubber thing in his face. The white-winged femling gave another commanding squeak, ceasing the mechling's struggles again. Bluewing pouted a little, but he obediently latched on to the rubber tip. Precious low-grade flowed into his system, and he gave an enthusiastic coo before sucking down the formula with a new vigor. This stuff was _good_! It had a tingly taste, and it made his tank feel good.

Seeing Bluewing's reaction and Breakfree's confidence kept Flamefall from struggling when Thundercracker lifted him up and started wrapping him in a blue blanket. Flamefall gave a small chirp of worry, which was answered by a reassuring trill from Breakfree. As Flamefall accepted his bottle, Starscream lifted up the trine's femme and wrapped her in a pink blanket. She stared at him as she immediately accepted her bottle without an ounce of hesitation. She slowly began to study her surroundings as her tiny digits slowly curled around Starscream's larger ones. Every now and again, Starscream would remove the bottle from her mouth to make sure she was swallowing. She posted no complaints. After all, he had kept her from falling.

Once they were fed, the three hatchlings were placed in their crib as close to each other as possible, and a large blanket was placed over them. A large recharge berth was set up beside their crib, and Thundercracker was given first shift with the seekerlets. He slid onto the berth and let his systems slow down as he moved into a recharge state as he heightened his motion and sound sensors for the hatchlings' sake. With any luck, the video conference with Megatron would go well.

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><p>Megatron was glaring at the two seekers with barely contained fury from the other side of the video link. On his right was Soundwave, the mech that had recently replaced Starscream as second in command, and flanking his other side was a mech designated Quickstrike. Since Soundwave had been promoted, Quickstrike had taken his place as third in command. Quickstrike was a transfer mech. He was rather short for a Cybertronian, with black armor that had red accents and a deep red visor. His posture was rather laid back, something that completely contradicted the tension in the room. In fact, if one didn't know any better, they could say that the mech was rather amused by the situation. However, anyone who had ever been in the presence of the mighty Decepticon leader when he was angry knew that no mech with half a processor would <em>ever<em> be amused at a situation that incited the leader's ire.

At the current moment, the three mechs were staring at a monitor in the communications hub that projected the image of Skywarp and Starscream. Megatron, who was currently in need of new soldiers before the Autobots got any, had decided to try a different way to get his warriors: raise them as Decepticons from sparklinghood. It would be rather ingenious were there a major glitch in that plan. You see, the Allspark was gone, destroyed by a measly human (which Megatron tried very fervently to never bring up, seeing as he had been offlined by that puny human as well) and all Decepticon femmes had been offlined by the mech's own order. So he had called on the inner scientist in his second in command, Starscream and ordered the mech to find a way to create sparklings without the assistance of the Allspark or femmes. Somehow, he had found a way, but unfortunately, only two out of three hundred and forty seven had survived. And now, Starscream was reporting another failure.

"What do you mean 'they offlined'? Three were hatched at one time, and they _all_ offlined?" Megatron snarled. Starscream scowled.

"None of them have survived, Megatron. We need more energon if we plan on keeping _any_ of them online. The sparklings require the nourishment even while they are still in the hatchling sacs," Starscream snapped.

"We barely have enough for ourselves," Megatron argued.

"And yet, you still want these sparklings to survive! They will all offline soon. There's only twenty-eight left!" Starscream stated.

"Then give them _your_ energon, you piece of scrap," Megatron roared.

"Oh, that will work perfectly. Then, when they hatch, they'll die because they have no living caretakers!" Megatron seemed to deliberate for a few minutes at the statement.

"Very well. I will send Quickstrike with some energon, and he will assess the situation." Starscream smiled.

"Good. Starscream out."

The screen blinked out. Megatron stared off into space for a few minutes, plotting. Starscream was lying to him. The leader could _always_ tell when he was lying to him, seeing as he had spent many, _many_ vorns with the traitorous mech. Yes, he was lying, and whatever he was lying about was important. Megatron could feel it in his spark. He hated being lied to, and that was reason enough to send someone to check up on the crafty jet. He'd send Soundwave, but as second in command, he was far too busy. Quickstrike always seemed to have his work done, or he'd find a way to get someone else to do it, something that never ceased to confuse and amuse the leader. Quickstrike, though a sparkless Autobot killer, simply oozed charisma. Megatron was fairly certain that if the mech wasn't completely loyal to the cause, he could possible achieve what Starscream had spent a large part of his existence attempting to do. Finally, the leader focused on the TiC.

"Look in every corner, and check every single bit of data in that retired ship. Starscream is hiding something, and I want to know what. Bring any of your findings back here. Compute?"

"Yessir. I'll be back b'fo'e ya know it," Quickstrike claimed, snapping a smart salute. He turned and left the room with a bounce in his step. After all, this was his first off ship mission, and he was rather excited for it. A quick trip to the _Nemesis_, a retired Decepticon ship, and back would do wonders for his circuits. Not that the troops grated on his circuits very often, but there were those select few that he couldn't get to work with him in any form or fashion. Those were the ones he got to beat up. He always did have a weird joy for beating up the mechs stupid enough to slag him off. Maybe he'd even get to fight with ol' Screamer. Only time would tell, and it wasn't going to move very quickly on the two trips through space. Quickstrike groaned lightly as he sat down in the seat of the small three-bot sized space traveler. Oh how he hated being stationary for long amounts of time. Maybe this trip wouldn't be very good for his circuits.

Unfortunately, orders were orders, so without any more hesitation, he onlined the pod's central computer and started up the thrusters. The pod's engine have a hushed purr before it shot out into space.

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><p>Her optics onlined when she heard the sound. What was that sound? She looked around, trying to find out what made the sound without waking her trinemates. The sound returned. Where was it coming from? Breakfree clicked curiously, completely enthralled in this great and wonderful mystery. There is was again! Unfortunately, this time, it was accompanied with a painful sensation in her tank. Her optics widened and filled with coolant. Her tummy hurt, and she wanted the pain to go away. Without processing twice, she let out a wail. Her trinemates instantly onlined and realizing their own hunger pains, joined her with pain-filled cries of their own.<p>

"Hush now, sparklets. All is well," Thundercracker crooned as he lifted Flamefall into his servos. Starscream and Skywarp appearing in a flash of purple, and the trine leader immediately lifted up the femling, clicking softly to her as he finished preparing her bottle. Skywarp was acting similarly with Bluewing. When she saw the bottle moving towards her, Breakfree reached for it, making "uh" noises.

"Here you go, sweetspark," Starscream cooed with a chuckle as she started drinking. Her engine purred in contentment as the mech made all the pain and discomfort go away. Starscream smiled at her as he held her against his chassis once she finished her bottle. He gently rubbed her wing stub, and her purrs grew as her optics dimmed. Starscream placed her back into the crib, and a breem later, her trinemates were laid on either side of her, and blanket was laid atop them. They cuddled close together under the blanket and slipped into recharge.

"There has been a change in the energon balance of the hatchling sacs. I need both of you for a few breems to help me distribute energon to the sacs," Starscream stated.

"Are you sure they're okay to be alone?" Skywarp asked as he gazed at the three hatchlings. The other two mechs gazed at them as well.

"Yes. We are just next door, and the _Nemesis'_ security will alert us of any intruders. Come," Starscream reassured them. As the three left, they had no idea that the security system had already been shut down while they were conversing with their leader. They had no clue that there was already an intruder, invisible to the world around him. And they did not know that he already had a plan to remove the hatchlings from their care. The intruder smiled as he approached the crib. His plan was already in motion. There was no stopping it now.

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><p>Here's the first chapter. What do y'all think? Good? Bad? Lemme know! I wonder how many of you will figure out who the infiltrator is...<p>

Just a random question... is there anyone who has to accept the guidelines _every single time_ they publish a new story? Jus' wonderin'...


	2. Chapter 2

Klik- under a second

Breem- 8.3 minutes

Joor- 6 hours

Orn- 2 weeks

Vorn- 83 years

**::Comm. link::**

_**Sparkling speak.**_

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><p>Disclaimer: I do not own transformers. I do own all the OCs, though, and the plot. Enjoy, folks.<p>

Chapter 2

Quickstrike wasn't expecting a warm welcome. Good thing, too, because a warm welcome would have been the exact opposite of what he received. The three mechs were easily twice as tall as him, a rather daunting fact, and they didn't appear amused by his claim that he wasn't here to snoop around. Starscream was the least civil of them, but in reality, Quickstrike wasn't expecting him to be very nice.

"What do you mean 'Megatron didn't give me any energon to bring'? These hatchlings are starving inside their sacs!" he roared.

"Look, mech, I cain't make energon appear outta thin air. Megatron told meh t' check out the situation b'fo'e he gave ya the energon. Orders are orders," Quickstrike reasoned, putting his hands up, palms forward.

"Very well. We will give you a tour. You will touch nothing, nor will you stray from our sides. Everything here is fragile," Starscream snarled.

"Course," Quickstrike replied easily. Starscream whirled around and stomped off. Quickstrike followed close behind him, and Skywarp flanked him. Quickstrike didn't fail to notice when Thundercracker broke off and moved down the hall. Hmm. Maybe he should investigate more thoroughly before he left, when he wasn't under such close scrutiny.

He was more than a little surprised when he walked into the main hatchling room. Three of the four walls were lined with little green sacs, and the last wall was filled with shelves of low-grade in different stages of de-energization. Most weren't even the glowing pink color they were supposed to be, but were a dull brown-ish gray color. Starscream hadn't been kidding when he said that they were experiencing an energon shortage. Four padded berths were set up in the middle of the room. Looking around, Quickstrike could see that most of the green sacs were uninhabited. Those that were occupied were slowly turning a teal color.

"They're as good as dead. None of the hatchlets have survived long after birth." Skywarp's voice cut through the silence like an energon blade.

"'Cuz a' the energon shortage?" Quickstrike asked.

"Yes. The sacs are supposed to be a lighter green, rather than this dark green color. Any sac that is this color will result in a handicapped or dying sparkling. They will all offline a few breems after hatching," Starscream said somberly. Quickstrike frowned. This was distressing news, indeed. Poor sparklings. They didn't deserve this. Quickstrike was about to say something along those lines to Starscream when Thundercracker came rushing into the room, optics wide and a horrified look on his faceplates.

"They're gone! They're gone, and the defense system is completely offline! We have an Autobot on board, and they took the hatchlings!" he exclaimed. Quickstrike frowned.

"Well, tha's news. I remember you two sayin' none a' them survived…" Quickstrike murmured. He shook his helm. "We'll worry about insubordination later. Everybot split up. Find the Autobot!"

"Yes, sir!" Thundercracker and Skywarp replied, while Starscream simply growled before dashing down the hall to his right. Quickstrike activated a spark signal scanner in his visor, and sprinted down the hall to the left, following the Autobot signal. The three Seekers didn't have this technology, something that Quickstrike was glad for. He wanted to confront this Autobot infiltrator by himself. He could tell that the mech was trying to make a quick escape, and Quickstrike had a feeling that the mech saw his little pod as a perfect means of travel. And Quickstrike had absolutely no desire to be stranded on this ship with three slagged off Seekers. He took a shortcut through a hall, and three turns later, he saw the white mech running with three little bundles in his arms.

"Hey, now! Slow ya engines!" he called to the mech. The white mech slowed a little to look at Quickstrike. That gave the black mech enough time to catch up to the infiltrator and scoop one of the bundles from his hands. "Follow meh. I know the shortcuts," he claimed. The Autobot looked suspicious, but followed him, nonetheless. It didn't take long for them to arrive at the docking bay. "The pod t' the left," Quickstrike instructed, seeing as that was the only one he knew had an autopilot. The two mechs rushed into the pod, and Quickstrike started activating the autopilot while the white mech settling himself and the hatchlings in a seat. Quickstrike sat down and held the blue bundle close as he braced himself.

"Hang on!" he warned. A few seconds later, the pod jolted from the ship and set its course for the _Ark_. Quickstrike gave a heavy sigh and swirled around in his twirly seat to looked at the white mech. "It's been a long time, 'asn't it… Mirage?"

"Yes, it has... Jazz." The bundle in Jazz's arms chose that moment to burst out in wails. Jazz and Mirage started and looked at the wriggling bundle. Jazz carefully unfolded the top of the blanket and was greeted by a wonderful sight. It was a hatchling. His white optics met with Jazz's, and his cries went quiet as the mechling studied the older mech holding him. Unfortunately, his cries had apparently woken the other two. The blue blanket in Mirage's hands started whimpering, while the pink one whistled in anxiety. Jazz moved toward Mirage and sat down in the seat beside him, examining the two different colored blankets. He couldn't hold back a grin when the pink one's top suddenly popped open, revealing a delicate little femme.

Breakfree's purple optics took in the black mech before moving to the mech holding her. They were both quite smaller than Starscream was, and they didn't have wings. Why didn't they have wings? Maybe they were invisible. Yeah. That had to be it. The femling's attention was pulled to the left where a blue blanket was wiggling around in the white mech's arms. She frowned. Why wasn't Bluewing simply removing the blanket like she had? Silly mech. It wasn't hard.

_**Squeak! **_Her order stilled the mechling, and she could feel his confusion and frustration in her spark. She looked up at the white mech with silent order in her optics. Her trinemate needed help getting unwrapped. The black mech seemed to understand the mechling's dilemma and reached over to remove the top of the blanket. Bluewing offlined his optic band for a klik at the assault of light, then flicked it back on. He looked over at Breakfree and squeaked in joy. He was free and closer to his trine leader than the other mech was! Success! Bluewing chirped and twittered as he leaned over in the mech's arms in an attempt to get close enough to Breakfree to cuddle. Mirage noticed his movement and obligingly moved him closer to the femling. Bluewing squealed as he freed his chubby little arms from his blanket to hug his leader. His life was now complete. Not only was he extremely comfortable in this strange mech's arms, but he got his leader to himself. Happy day.

Flamefall, however, was definitely not amused. He squawked at Bluewing as he reached out for the femme, as well. It wasn't fair that that he got Breakfree all to himself. She was _both_ their leader, and Bluewing had to share her! Flamefall squirmed in Jazz's servos, twittering angrily. The black mech grimaced at the sparkling.

"I think 'e wants in on the cuddlin'," Jazz noted, moving Flamefall toward the femme, who was resting on her stomach in the dead center of Mirage's chest plates, Bluewing cuddled into her left side. Mirage moved his right hand and let Jazz lay the orange-winged mech beside the femme. Bluewing gave a small whine but was silenced by a commanding squeak from the femme. The two mechs cuddled close to her, and they went silent. "Now," Jazz began, plopping back down in the swirling chair. "Since you've been doin' the spyin', why don't ya tell meh all 'bout these three li'l cuties?"

"The femme is designated Breakfree. The other two are designated Bluewing and Flamefall. I'm sure you can tell which one is which. Together, they are a trine. A Seeker trine. Starscream hypothesized that their trine-bond kept them from offlining like the other saplings did. The femme is the trine leader. She appears to be very bright for only being a day old. It's rather strange in my opinion. All she has to do is squeak or click, and the mechs will calm down." Mirage's voice trailed off as he looked down at the three dozing hatchlings.

"So, how 'bout we call ol' Hatchet? Bet findin' out he'll be carin' for sparklings will make 'is day. It'll give 'im some'n ta look forward to," Jazz commented as he fed the communication systems information. It took a breem for the connection to go through, but soon enough, Prowl's scowling face showed up.

"State your reason for contacting us, Decepticon," Prowl snarled.

"Aw, Prowler! You injure meh! Is tha' how ya greet all yo'r friends?" Jazz asked with a mock hurt expression and his hands over his spark. Prowl's expression changed back to that emotionless mask.

"Jazz? We hadn't been expecting your return for quite a while," he stated.

"There was a change in plans. I met up wit' Mirage. I 'ad t' bail 'im out on 'is mission," Jazz chirped.

"You did no such thing! I was perfectly fine escaping on my own!" Mirage argued.

"Did you find what the Decepticons were hiding, Mirage?" Prowl asked, looking past Jazz in the screen to where he could see Mirage sitting with three bundles on his chassis. The Second in Command couldn't tell what was in those bundles, but he had a feeling he would be finding out the second Jazz got onboard.

"Yes," Mirage replied. "Oh, yes." The white mech sounded quite pleased with himself, and Prowl didn't miss the huge grins that decorated both mechs' faces.

"Hmm. So is there any particular reason to call? Or is this purely a pleasure call?" Prowl questioned. Jazz's smile became mischievous.

"Oh, we just wanted you to relay something to Ratchet," Jazz stated.

"And that is…?"

"Oh, just let him know that when we get there, he gets to relive sparklin' Bumblebee times three." With that, Jazz cut the connection. Prowl contemplated this closing statement for a few kliks before moving towards Ratchet's medbay at a strangely quick un-Prowl-like pace. He got the medbay door open and was bout to yell for Ratchet, when his processor suddenly caught up with him. How did Jazz get Bumblebee's sparklings? His logic center started processing this, and the conclusion was not at all possible. There was no way 'Bee had a Decepticon sparkmate. It simply wasn't... possible...

And Prowl dropped to the ground, his logic processor completely short-circuited.

* * *

><p>The trip went by rather quickly for the Commander of Special-Ops. Perhaps it was the easy conversation with one of his long-time friends, or perhaps it was the three little hatchlings that tended to randomly squeak or click as they recharged, something that caught the two spies' attention every single time. As it was, the joor-long ride didn't seem to be any longer than a breem. The <em>Ark<em> loomed over the small pod, seemingly sending out a comforting aura to the two bots. Jazz sent out an Autobot distress signal, knowing Prowl would be able to decipher it as his best friend's. Mirage smiled lightly as the large door to the docking bay slid open slowly. Jazz switched the autopilot off and maneuvered the pod into the bay. It took a bit of expert-piloting, but Jazz finally got it parked beside two of the escape pods.

After shutting off the engine, Jazz hopped to his feet, eager to finally be home. He strode over to Mirage and gently started rewrapping the Seekerlets in their blankets. Once they were sufficiently covered, Jazz lifted Bluewing and Breakfree to make it easier for Mirage to stand without disturbing their recharge. Mirage cradled Flamefall closer to his chassis as he stood. Jazz waited as the aristocratic mech moved to the keypad beside the door first. Mirage held Flamefall with his right servo as he disengaged the air lock, then proceeded to open the door. The white mech exited first, followed closely by the Third in Command. The sound of a door opening grabbed their attention.

"Jazz, Mirage," Prime greeted as he moved into the docking bay, Ratchet flanking his right and Prowl flanking his left. "It is good to see your return."

"Yes, we're all glad they are functioning. Now, Jazz, what was the reasoning behind causing Prowl's short-circuit, and what slag were you feeding him about Bumblebee's sparklings? Bumblebee denies even having a _sparkmate_." Ratchet's statement was none to quiet, and a small movement in Jazz's arms proved that not completely warning the medic had been a mistake.

Breakfree was pulled from recharge by a loud voice. She really didn't like this. And the blanket was smothering her again. Were these mechs _trying_ to offline her? When the loud voice went quiet, she started wriggling around. She was too hot, and it felt very uncomfortable. Plus, she couldn't see anything. She could sense the other two mechs, but she couldn't see them. This was very disconcerting. She sniffled a few times, still feeling too hot. She finally decided that enough was enough, and without warning, she let out a wail. Her cried were quickly joined with that of the two mechlings.

"What the slag!" that same angry voice yelled. Suddenly, the top of Breakfree's blanket was flipped over, allowing cool air to enter. Immediately, she was greeted by the sight of a bright yellow mech. Her cries stopped as she stared at him. He was so…_ bright_! She gurgled happily as she stared at him, her little antennae moving around. Pretty! She squirmed in Jazz's hands as she freed her arms and reached for the mech. The yellow mech, for his part, looked rather bemused by her, but he lifted her up anyways and cradled her close to his spark. She clicked and whistled unintelligibly at him as she patted his yellow armor on his chest.

"Oh! I get it! She think's yo'r pretty, Ratch'," Jazz chortled, as Bluewing wailed and wriggled around in his grasp. Ratchet glared at Jazz, but smiled down at the little femme in his arms.

"Let's get you a check up," he said gently.

"Can we calm down the other two first?" Mirage asked, as Flamefall raised his wails to a new decibel. Breakfree winced as Flamefall got louder and louder. This would not do. He was going to hurt himself. She twisted in Ratchet's grasp and looked over at where Mirage was gently patting Flamefall's back as the little mech stretched in Breakfree's direction. Breakfree frowned at him, then looked over at Bluewing, who was in the same shape as the other mechling. Both were reaching out with their little arms and their underdeveloped sparks. Their cries were making everyone uncomfortable, even she. She shook her helm at the two mechs.

_**Squeak click chirp!**_ She reprimanded. The two mechs grew silent, their sobs becoming whimpers and hiccups. _**Chirp click click buzz squeak. Click beep chirp squeak squeak, **_she reassured them. They needed to stop crying, and they didn't need to worry; she was still there. Bluewing sniffled and tucked his helm into Jazz's chassis, seeking the physical comfort that Breakfree was currently unwilling to give, while Flamefall continued to stare at her with a broken-sparked look. She sent love through the bonds and turned back around to lay her helm against Ratchet's bright chest.

"I suppose now would be a good time to mention that they are Seekerlets and that Breakfree there is the trine leader," Mirage stated suddenly.

"Astounding. She has complete control over them?" Prowl breathed as he moved to Ratchet's side. Breakfree glanced up at the black and white mech, then did a double take. He…had…_wings_! Breakfree squealed in excitement as she suddenly forgot about Ratchet's paintjob and focused solely on the winged mech. Ratchet hesitantly handed the femme over to Prowl as she reached for him.

To say that Prowl felt awkward would be an understatement. He stared down at the hatchling bundled up in a small pink blanket as he tried to figure out what he was supposed to do. He had never dealt with sparklings. He had been a local law enforcer before the war had broken out. He hadn't _had_ to deal with sparklings. The only other sparkling he had been in contact with had been Bumblebee, but he had been older.

"Cradle her against your body, you dolt," Ratchet snapped, having already begun to like the little femme. Breakfree whistled and chirruped as she patted Prowl's chest plates. She moved enough to get one wing stub free, and she wiggled it at Prowl, showing him that they were the same, just in case he hadn't seen her wings. The purpose of this action was completely lost on the Second in Command. His battle computer and the logic center of his processor worked double time in an attempt to understand this child. Breakfree didn't seem to mind his confusion. She snuggled close to him, finding comfort in the knowledge that there was another mech like her here. Prime, for his part managed to keep his amused grin concealed, unlike Jazz, who was sniggering at his best friend without even attempting to hide it.

"Take them to the medbay, then everybot, aside from Ratchet, report to my office. We have much to discuss." Prime's order made the bots to gain a sense of seriousness. Bluewing was still whimpering pitifully in Jazz's servos, and Flamefall had apparently taken to doing the same thing. Breakfree had cuddled into her blanket and was falling into a light recharge. The four mechs, three of them holding blanket covered bundles of wires, trooped after Prime as he led the way to the medbay.

**::Hey, Jazz? How **_**did**_** you end up in the **_**Nemesis**_**? Only high ranking 'cons get there,::** Mirage asked suddenly, through private comm. link, knowing that non-Ops bots wouldn't be privy to this information. Jazz glanced over at him with a grin.

**::I din' tell ya? Mah designation's Quickstrike, the Decepticon Third in Command,::** Jazz replied cheerfully. Mirage promptly whirled his helm around to stare in shock at his commanding officer.

_**::What?::**_ Jazz looked much like a sparkling that had gotten into the energon treat jar. He didn't offer a response, though, as they had reached the medbay, and Ratchet was directing them to different areas of the medbay. Unfortunately, the second Breakfree was out of line of sight, Bluewing and Flamefall freaked out. Loud wails filled the medbay, and the two mechlings wriggled in their caretakers' arms. Prowl even seemed to be having trouble with the femme.

"Ratchet, I think they have to be together," Mirage called over the ruckus.

"_Really_? Are you sure about that?" Ratchet snapped sarcastically. "Prowl, come over here." The SiC obeyed, bringing the femling over to where Jazz and Bluewing were. Bluewing quieted down and twisted in Jazz's servos, reaching for Breakfree. She, in turn, reached for him.

"Set them down on the berth together," ratchet commanded after a few klicks, ignoring the whimpering Flamefall. Prowl laid Breakfree on her stomach first, then Jazz follow suit with Bluewing. The mechling squealed happily as he cuddled into his leader. Breakfree cooed at him and hugged him back. She didn't like not being able to see him. Not when she was around all these mechs that she didn't know. Flamefall made a whining sound and squawked at the other two hatchlings. Breakfree rolled a little and looked up at him as if to say, "Well, come on."

"Fascinating," Ratchet murmured.

"Whoa, Ratch'. Yo'r startin' t' sound like Percy," Jazz stated. Ratchet made a huffing noise as he moved to one of his many cabinets. He pulled out three bottles that Jazz didn't even know he had and two cubes of energon.

"I had these from back when I did free examinations in the youth and sparkling centers. This is med-grade. It won't taste as good as low-grade to them, but it will have to do until Wheeljack helps me form a suitable low-grade." With that, Ratchet poured one of the cubes into the first bottle. It only took up two thirds of the cube, so Ratchet was able to use all of the med-grade to fill all three. He attached the tubed tops and handed a bottle to Jazz and one to Mirage. Ratchet then lifted up the femme, earning a squeak of anger from Bluewing. He cradled her close and held the tubing to her mouth plates. Breakfree chirped in joy. More of the yummy stuff that made her tank feel good! She bit down on the tubing and clicked in surprised joy when she tasted the energon. It. Tasted. _Amazing!_ Why was this stuff so much better than Starscream's energon? Frankly, she didn't really care; she simply started chugging it down.

It didn't take long for Jazz to pick Bluewing back up and get him latched onto the bottle. He seemed just a surprised as the femme, as was Flamefall once he got a taste of the stuff.

"I would guess that they haven't been treated to very good low-grade if they like this stuff so much," Ratchet stated.

"They didn't. Most of Screamer's low-grade was browning," jazz stated.

"Pitiful. How do they plan on raising sparklings with de-energized energon?" Ratchet scoffed.

"They are not sparklings, Ratchet. They are _hatchlings_," Mirage corrected solemnly. "They were created without the use of the Allspark or the aid of a femme. They were somehow fashioned in green sacs. They started with about three hundred and fifty, but any that hatched died only moments after. These three are believed to have survived because of their trine-bond. If any one of them got too close to death, the other two would lend their strength. Somehow, the femme, Breakfree, has matured a little more than the two mechs, Bluewing and Flamefall. I would say that it has something to do with her being the leader."

"And like all Seekers, they need to be touching. All Seekers are like that. Once again, it has to do with the trine bond, and much like spark-twins. They will have to be nearby each other until their bond is stronger," Ratchet surmised. He glanced down at the femme in his arms to see that she was slowly falling asleep. She released the bottle and gave a large yawn, which caused the five older mechs to smile. Ratchet set the empty bottle on a counter and gently ran a digit down her cheek. She gave a small "uh" noise as she grabbed the digit and hugged it close, though her arms didn't fit around it. She clicked quietly as her optics dimmed.

"Prowl," Ratchet began, looking over at the mech, "set two of those towels on the berth, one over the other, then comm. Wheeljack and Perceptor to my bay. I don't want to activate mine with this one going into recharge."

"Okay," Prowl replied, obeying the mech, knowing that if he dared disobey, he would likely end up on the ground with a wrench-shaped indention in his helm. Once the towels were laid down, Ratchet set Breakfree in the middle of the now padded berth on her stomach after extricating his digit from her grip. A recharging Bluewing was laid on her right, and Flamefall was laid on her left. The orange-winged mech immediately cuddled into her side, shooting the oblivious Bluewing what looked like a rather nasty look. Ratchet and Prime exchanged glances. They would have to keep a close optic on the two mechs and closely study their behavior toward each other. Ratchet covered the three of them with another blanket and dimmed the medbay's lights. He strode to the counter and grabbed chair. He sat down in it as the other four mechs strode out of the bay. With a resigned sigh, the medic pulled out an old datapad. Might as well start getting reacquainted with the sparkling body. Especially since he had these three new patients. Ratchet gave a small smile. These three were worth it. He proceeded to read up on their systems as the three hatchlings slept.

* * *

><p>Sooooo. Here's chapter two. I was about to cut it off half-way, but it was under 4K words. That's my current requirement. 4K words, give or take a few words. Thank you for your support! Already 8 alerts and 2 favorites, and only one chapter! Thank you all for your reviews! I'm trying to reply to all of them. Those who don't give a username, I apologize for not being able to reply, but thanks for your opinions, even if you can't receive a response. now... let me explain something.<p>

In this story, the Seekerlets do have to be touching their leader, but don't read into it too much. Please. It really _is _like two baby siblings having to hold hands when they sleep. Seekers naturally require touch, but it isn't necessarily sexual. I won't make it such in this story. Maybe if i make a sequel with the three Seekerlets, I'll look into the two mechlings crushing on Breakfree, but that will be far into the furture_. Far _into the future_. Far, far, far _into the future. For now, let's focus on getting them all grown up, ya know?

Let's see, what else... Prowl and Jazz are just best friends. Nothing more. Nothing less...

I think that's all for this chapter. I'll have the next chapter for Sunburst's story up tomorrow, Lord willing. I'm having to rush on a history project due tomorrow over Louisiana. Why I chose louisiana, I'll never know. She wouldn't let us choose Texas, because she said we should choose a state that we don't live in. Not that I'm complaining, but it's ridiculously hard to find scrapbooking stuffs for Louisiana. Yeah. i have to make a scrapbook on Louisiana. Fun stuff. Did I mention it's due on monday? So, don't kill me if it's up on Sunday. Please.

Yeah. I'm shutting up now. Review, guys. See y'all next chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

Klik- under a second

Breem- 8.3 minutes

Joor- 6 hours

Orn- 2 weeks

Vorn- 83 years

**::Comm. link::**

_**Sparkling speak.**_

Disclaimer: I do not own transformers. I do own all the OCs, though, and the plot. Enjoy, folks.

Chapter 3

Ratchet's first indication that something disastrous was about to occur came with a strange clanking noise outside his medbay door. The clanking noise wasn't easy to miss. In fact, it sounded much like a metal body being dragged across the floor at a slow pace. If one knew the inhabitants of this ship well, and Ratchet did, one would say that the metal was being dragged _hesitantly_ toward the bay. The metal stopping outside the door gave Ratchet pause. How badly was the mech hurt for him to pause so long outside the bay? Who was foolish enough to do something dumb enough to scare them into hesitating at the entrance to the medic's lair?

Hmm… Sideswipe? Sunstreaker? Gears? Jazz, perhaps? Ironhide?

The door opened, and Ratchet was delighted by how right he was. Well, delighted for a few seconds before complete irritation took over. Ironhide was dragging an offline Sideswipe by the arm while the red mech's other arm was a mangled mess. Ironhide's free arm was covered in a weird rubber-looking substance. In fact, one of the rubber areas appeared to be _breathing_…

"Care to explain?" Ratchet hissed.

"Pit-slagging Sideswipe decided it'd be nice to super_-_glue _balloons_ to my arm. I believe he was trying to cover more, if the large bag filled with deflated balloons is anything to judge by. I onlined while he was in the act and beat the slag outta him!" Ironhide snarled.

"Mute it! You'll wake the–" He was cut off by a loud wail.

* * *

><p>Bluewing had been enjoying a rather nice recharge when he heard it. The voice was loud and angry much like Ratchet's had been when they first heard him. This one was worse, though. It was really angry. Though Bluewing couldn't understand the words, he knew they couldn't be nice if they were said in that tone. He onlined his optic band and turned his helm to find out why they were angry.<p>

And he screamed.

His armor was dark, and his build bulky. One of his arms was covered in colorful goo (probably used to melt a mech's armor straight through!), and the other was wrapped around the arm of a red mech that he dragged behind him. The other arm was mangled, and the mech was obviously offline. The ominous bright light that came from behind the mech did absolutely nothing for him as he stood in the doorway of the dim medbay. Bluewing whimpered and started crying. He needed someone to protect him, someone who could make the mech go away.

Of course! Breakfree! She wasn't scared of anything, and she could do anything. So without processing twice, Bluewing turned his helm back around and started nudging Breakfree. She gave a single squeak of protest before she onlined her optics. Bluewing twittered and chirped in a panicked tone as his leader attempted to make her processer understand what this mechling's problem was. She understood he was afraid for some reason. Ah. A monster. Strange. She saw no monsters. Then again, she couldn't see over Bluewing, so maybe there was a monster that she couldn't see. Bluewing was overly distressed, so he must have seen something.

Then the shadow suddenly covered them. Breakfree gave a short intake and hugged her two trine mates close. She gave a single distressed click, but was otherwise silent. Bluewing didn't hesitate to curl into his leader's side in his fear. They didn't notice when the lights went bright until Flamefall gave a squeak of protest.

"It's okay, sparklets," Ratchet's voice cooed. Bluewing was the first to be lifted up by Ratchet's chartreuse servo. He whimpered lightly as Ratchet cradled him to his chassis. "There now. Calm down." Now that Bluewing was out of the way, Breakfree had a clear view of the big black mech. And she started crying. Ratchet smirked as he lifted her up next. "Primus, Ironhide. I never thought your simple presence would make sparklings cry."

"Mute it, and explain where you got the sparklings," Ironhide huffed as he frowned at the two crying sparklings in Ratchet's hands. The last one, one with orangish-red wings was staring at him with an open mouth. Well, at least he wasn't crying…

"They were found in the care of Starscream. They are a trine, and this little femme is the leader. And you, Ironhide, are scaring them. Leave Sideswipe and comm. Jazz to come here." Ratchet seemed to pause. "Wait, he's in a meeting with Prime. Jolt should be around here somewhere…"

"He's with Bumblebee in the rec room. They just got off brig duty," Ironhide supplied.

"Good. Leave Sideswipe and comm. 'Bee and Jolt to come assist with the sparklings. I believe now would be a good time for their checkups." Ironhide grumbled as he walked away, stepping over the prone form of Sideswipe as he did. Ratchet gingerly laid the two hatchlings back down, allowing them to comfort each other as he prepared the needed supplies. Bluewing whimpered and immediately latched onto his leader while Flamefall simply cuddled up next to her. Breakfree gave a disgruntled buzz, but endured the clinginess, seeing as she was pretty much the same way. She just didn't need to show it, seeing as Bluewing refused to be more than a few inches from her anyways.

"Ratchet, what is amiss…" The blue mech froze the second her laid optics on the three cuddling hatchlings on the berth. Bumblebee gave an inquisitive chirp from behind the mech blocking the door, unable to see around him. Jolt unfroze and whirled on the scout. "You said you had no sparklings!" he stated in an accusatory voice. Bumblebee took a step back, hands raised with the palms facing outwards.

"I don't! I'm fairly certain I would have been informed if I had a sparkmate!" Bumblebee shot back in his defense.

"He's correct, Jolt. These sparklings do not _have_ creators. They were hatched from some sort of sparkling sac invented by the Decepticons. Now get you skidplate over here and assist me in their examinations," Ratchet interjected, ending the fight. Jolt stepped toward the berth, the yellow mech following close behind him.

"Ratchet, I have never dealt with sparklings before," Jolt stated. Ratchet placed a special sort of scanner in his hands.

"There's a first time for everything. That scanner is made specifically for sparklings to discover how strong or weak their firewall is. It works the exact same way the one for adults does. The difference is that this one has smaller wires and a smaller output, so that you don't shock their systems. Have Bumblebee hold the sparkling while you scan them." Ratchet turned towards Sideswipe and haphazardly lifted the mech up. "The femme is designated Breakfree and is the leader of their trine. The two mechs are designated Bluewing and Flamefall. While you scan them, I'll begin fixing this moron."

"Oh. And I'd start with the femling," Ratchet added as an afterthought as he dropped Sideswipe onto a berth with a resounding _clank_. The sound garnered three identical squeaks of surprise, but they were ignored by the CMO as he started repairing the red mech's arm.

"Right," Jolt said to himself. He gave a single nod to Bumblebee, who complied to the silent request and lifted up the femling. Breakfree whistled in confusion as she was removed from the berth, stomach down. It was almost as if she was flying. Whoa. She really liked this feeling! She was flipped over onto her back, and she squealed in delight as she stared at this new mech. He was a bright and pretty color, _and_ he had wings. Breakfree squeaked and chirped at him, wiggling her own little wings stubs at him. True, the wings were so small that you could only see the tips over her fragile shoulders, but they were still there! The mech holding her chuckled as he situated her in his hands.

"Yes, you _do_ have wings," he cooed. "And they're very pretty, too." Breakfree didn't understand his words, but his tone told her that he was being nice. She trilled happily at the mech, then she noticed the other one approaching her with some weird…thing. She wasn't as pretty as the mech holding her. He was blue, a much darker shade than Bluewing was. She could see that he had wings, but they weren't very big. That must make him sad, because Breakfree liked that people could see her wings. The blue mech glanced once at the yellow mech before looking down at me.

"Greetings, Breakfree. My designation is Jolt." She stared at him, wondering what he was saying. She couldn't understand him, so he must not be saying something important. After all, she understood her trine perfectly well. Then again, some of the things they said had no point, either. Huh. Maybe it was a universal thing. Maybe only the things _she_ said would matter… Well, only time would tell.

"Jolt, they aren't old enough yet to understand the adult dialect of Cybertronian," the yellow mech stated. The blue mech nodded.

"Oh…I apologize for my lack of knowledge. As I told Ratchet…I know nothing of them."

"Don't worry. I'm coming to watch. In fact, I'll scan the first one, and you can watch and learn. You will scan the next one, though, compute?" Ratchet strode over to the berth where Bumblebee was seated with the femling in his arms. He grinned when Breakfree gave a delighted squeak at his arrival and stepped closer to her. "Miss me?" She gave an answering trill, liking his pleased tone. He chuckled at her. "Let's get this over with. Now, this will go by real fast, sparklet."

"If she does not speak the language, why do you try to communicate?" Jolt questioned as Ratchet grabbed the scanner and reached his hand toward the sparkling.

"She doesn't understand words, but she _does_ understand tones, and it is best to get her used to how our language sounds so that she will learn to speak it quicker." While he spoke, Ratchet's careful hands began attaching cables from the scanner to various ports in the sparkling's arms, legs, and side panels where her circuitry was exposed from the lack of armor. "She already has it programmed into her processor. Her processor simply needs to translate and work through that coding, and her vocal processor needs to be exercised before it is up to full capacity. It will take a while, even after she learns the words for our language, for her to understand how to use the words in sentences and for her vocal processor to be strong enough to use more than two or three words together."

There was a sudden squeak of surprise when Breakfree's chest cavity opened up to reveal her inner workings. She looked up at Ratchet in a panic. Was this supposed to be happening to her? What was going on? They weren't trying to hurt her, were they?

"Don't worry, sweetspark. It'll be over soon," Ratchet promised, as he attached three wires to vital parts that supplied and kept up her firewalls. Bumblebee made a thrumming noise in his chassis and gently rubbed the hatchling's wings. It kept her from wriggling around, but it didn't stop her from whining in discomfort. As the medic promised, though, it was all over quick enough, and he began unhooking the wires. "See, now? That wasn't so bad," Ratchet crooned. Bumblebee exchanged glances with Jolt, but neither commented on the medic's behavior. He gently closed up her chest plates and removed the other wires. "A sparkling's systems are exactly like an adult's, only smaller and more fragile. Hence, the different instruments."

Ratchet lifted Breakfree from Bumblebee's arms and deposited her in Jolt's servos. The blue junior medic grimaced at his teacher, not really sure how to treat this child. He hadn't ever seen a sparkling, much less held one. He was fairly certain _Prowl_ felt less awkward than this. However, his grimace was ignored as Ratchet gently lifted up Bluewing, hands around the little mech's middle. The mechling giggled madly the second he left the berth. His hands stretched out horizontally, and his little pedes kicked the air excitedly as he twittered and giggled. The two yellow mechs grinned at this behavior. Talk about a happy sparkling. Ratchet gently turned Bluewing over as he situated him in Bumblebee's arms. Bluewing glanced at the yellow bot holding him, then his optic band strayed when he caught a bit of blue on the outside of his vision. He turned his head and squealed with excitement. It was Breakfree! She was there to keep him safe! After she woke up, the evil black mech had run away! There was no way he'd get hurt with her around, even if she _was_ so far away. With a content chirp, Bluewing cuddled into the yellow mech's arms.

"That's a good sparkling," Ratchet murmured as he started hooking up the scanner. Like Breakfree, he had a moment of terror when his chestplates were slid apart, but a comforting whistle from his trine leader had calmed him immediately. He whimpered a little when the wires were connected, but was otherwise silent. After the readings were complete, Ratchet quickly and skillfully unhooked the device and closed the mechling's chest cavity closed. He then set the scanner down and lifted Bluewing against his chassis. He turned to Jolt and gestured for the sparkling in his hands. Jolt hesitated for a klik before holding the femling out to his instructor. Ratchet had to move swiftly because Bluewing immediately started wriggling around when it was obvious that Breakfree was being transferred into the CMO's arms. Once Breakfree was against Ratchet's chassis, the large mech allowed Bluewing to scoot over in his grasp to hug his leader. There was an audible sigh from said leader, but it was ignored by the mechling.

"Are you certain you want me to try this?" Jolt asked hesitantly.

"You'll do fine, Jolt. The only one who doesn't think you will do well is yourself. They are just like adults, only smaller. Remember, smile and use happy tones."

Jolt nodded at his tutor's words and lifted up Flamefall. The mechling didn't move, and when he was flipped over, the three mechs found out why. He was in stasis.

"Well… apparently, this one is a deep sleeper," Ratchet murmured, an amused smile on his lip components. Flamefall was set in Bumblebee's arms, and Jolt got to work. He was glad to find that this wasn't as hard as he thought it'd be. He gently slid the mechling's chest plates open and deftly finished hooking up the scanner. Flamefall briefly onlined one white optic before going back into recharge. Jolt grinned as he started unhooking the machine.

"You were right, Ratchet. That _was_ easy," Jolt stated.

"Just because you got the sleeping one," the CMO muttered. "Since you two are here, why don't you watch them as I repair Sideswipe's arm?" he didn't give them a chance to reply as he transferred the cuddling hatchlings into his aide's arms. Breakfree let out a small whine. Ratchet smiled at her as he rubbed her helm behind her antennae that resembled those of his leader's. He then moved over to the berth that the red nightmare was occupying. "Too bad I can't just chop it off," he mumbled.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, in Optimus' office, Jazz and Mirage were explaining how their missions went. Jazz had been repainted and sent into the Decepticon's ranks shortly after the Autobots had been forced off-planet by the government. No living Decepticon knew of Jazz's recovery, and the mech's personality had made integrating into the Decepticon ranks fairly easy. It had been a good three vorns since they had last seen the mech, and apparently, his charisma and fighting and planning skills caught Megatron's attention and eventually got him the position of Third-in-Command after Starscream was sent away. He had played the part of a loyal Decepticon very well, and his joy of beating up other 'cons gained him respect and fear from his underlings. His abandoning the 'cons would probably cause quite a bit of disharmony amongst the ranks; many of those mechs had idolized him, seeing as Soundwave simply freaked them out and Megatron was too…well…one doesn't normally idolize a person that likes to beat you up for the smallest mistake. Jazz was known for his mercy, but his inability to give third chances.<p>

Mirage, on the other hand, had been spying on Starscream for an orn. His findings disturbed Optimus to a large degree. The Decepticons were trying to find a way to make sparklings. And those sparklings were dying slow deaths of starvation. It had apparently been a miracle that the hatchling trine had hatched without some sort of disability. The three would be malnourished, though. It was something that Ratchet was already working on, though. The CMO had already spoken to Perceptor and Wheeljack about this problem, and the two were already concocting a special low-grade for the three hatchlings. Until it was finished, though, they would refuel on med-grade, which they didn't really seem to mind.

"So, what will we do with them, Prime? Starscream will no doubt come searching for them. As fellow Seekers, Starscream and his trine will view it as their duty to protect them from every other Cybertronian until this war is over," Mirage noted.

"They weren't even gonna tell ol' Megsy," Jazz added. "They were requestin' fo' energon when 'e sent meh t' do some snoopin'. 'E said 'e didn' trust 'em."

"I see." Prime seemed to contemplate his options before speaking. "We will guard them here. There are more than enough mechs to defend them if need be. Wheeljack can create a small berth with railing for the three of them, and the mechs can take turns watching them."

"Prime, just so you are informed, until their bond is strong, they _will_ need to be able to see each other. They will have to be especially close to the femling, because at this young age, they will either be under the pretense that she is the only being capable of protecting them, or they will believe that _they_ are the only beings capable of protecting _her_. And seeing as she is the leader, they _will_ defend against anything they perceive as a threat."

"The femme didn' seem too scared'a us," Jazz said.

"I agree, but there are certain reasons for that," Prowl interjected. "She liked Ratchet for his paintjob. I believe she liked me because off my door panels. You and Mirage she liked because she had spent the last couple of joors with you without consequence. She is convinced you will not harm her. I am led to believe by these bits of observation that she will like any mech with a flashy paintjob and any piece of kibble that remotely resembles wings."

"Great," Jazz mumbled. "She'll be all ovuh Sunny with 'is shiny yellow paint."

"Yes, and I'd suggest we not let her meet up with either of the twins until absolutely necessary."

"Agreed," the other three mechs said in unison.

"Then if that is all, I would like to go check on them and see how Ratchet is holding up," Prime stated, standing up. The four mechs nodded and filed out of the office in the direction of the medbay. They knew the y were getting close when they heard the unmistakable sound of a wrench connecting with a cranial unit and a high pitched giggle. Yep. Definitely close to the medbay.

* * *

><p>So, here's chapter three. All y'all who are reading <em>A Little Burst of Sunlight<em>, Imma try ta have that out tomorrow, but no promises. I am going camping this upcoming weeking (God help me!) so I will not be updating next week. I'm praying I survive this weekend, cuz I'm an arachnophobic city girl being thrust into the wild... Yeah, Imma die... Well, review and I hop ya like it!


	4. Chapter 4

Klik- under a second

Breem- 8.3 minutes

Joor- 6 hours

Orn- 2 weeks

Vorn- 83 years

**::Comm. link::**

_**Sparkling speak.**_

Disclaimer: I do not own transformers. I do own all the OCs, though, and the plot. Enjoy, folks.

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 4<span>

Sideswipe was glaring at Ratchet as the CMO repaired his arm. The red mech was sitting on a berth opposite one that Bumblebee and Jolt were sitting on. Every now and again, his glare would disappear as his gaze moved over to the three sparklings. The little femme giggled at him every time they met gazes, and the blue winged mech simply stared at him in uncontained fear. Every time Sideswipe glanced over at him, the mechling would scoot closer to the femme. The mech with flame-like wings was in a deep recharge, completely oblivious to the outside world. Optimus, Prowl, Jazz, and Mirage were loitering near the medbay door. Their gazes held amusement, and each one of them smiled every time Breakfree giggled. None of the sparklings had noticed the four mechs, seeing as they weren't in the sparklings' lines of sight, so Sideswipe and Ratchet were the focal points of all three hatchlings' attention.

"You didn't have to hit me," Sideswipe said suddenly. As an answer to that statement, Ratchet brought his trusty wrench down on Sideswipe's helm for the third time, sending Breakfree into a fit of giggles.

"You were scaring them. Besides, Breakfree finds it amusing, and you don't want to be the reason she starts crying, do you?" Ratchet replied in a sugary voice.

"I hate you."

"Hate is a very strong word. One that you shouldn't use in the sparklings' presence."

"How did you even _get_ sparklings? They aren't Bee's, right? You didn't lie to us, did ya, mech?" Bee scowled at Sideswipe as the red mech leaned over to look past Ratchet. Bluewing gave a squeak of terror and burrowed his helm into Jolt's chassis. Breakfree simply stared at him with an undecipherable expression.

"No. You will find out where they came from when Prime decides to inform the rest of the crew. Compute?"

"Whatever." That earned him another whack with the wrench, which in turn caused the room to fill with a femme's giggles. "She sure is energon-thirsty," Sideswipe mumbled as he rubbed his sore helm with his uninjured servo. As if answering his statement, a small gurgling noise mixed with the sound of a tiny engine rev filled the room. All mechs turned to look at the Seekerlets. Breakfree was looking around in a humorous manner, mouth open in wonder and optics wide as she searched for the elusive source of the noise. She whistled in confusion when the noise returned.

"Looks like somebot's hungry," Ratchet cooed. Breakfree looked up at Ratchet with a confused squeak. What was making that noise? Was it Ratchet? Was it the funny red mech? She gasped. What if it was the scary big black mech? Was he coming? There was a low pain in her tanks again as the noise appeared again. Coolant came to her optics as she looked up at Ratchet with a pitifully sad expression. The last time she had these pains, Starscream made them go away. But she wasn't with Starscream anymore. She let out a whimper before she broke down into wails. Ratchet clicked at her in sympathy. He looked over at the four mechs by the door.

"Prime, Jazz, take those two from Jolt and Bee. They haven't dealt with sparklings before, and I would prefer someone experienced feeding them until they are more comfortable," Ratchet ordered as he began filling three small bottles with med-grade. Jazz grinned as he moved toward Jolt. Prime only hesitated for a moment before following the smaller mech across the bay. Jazz reached for Breakfree, but Ratchet's sharp voice stopped him. "Breakfree will be fed by me."

"Course, Ratch. Wouldn' wanna d'prive ya of the one femme who loves tha' paintjob," Jazz teased. "Gah!" he added when a wrench ricocheted off his helm, causing him to stumble back a few steps. Breakfree's wails went silent as she stared at the small black mech. She giggled a little, but that unfamiliar noise returned. It was beginning to scare her, and her tummy still hurt. So, like any scared and defenseless sparkling would, she went back to crying. Jazz purposefully ignored her wails and lifted Bluewing out of Jolt grasp, practically having to pry the mechling's arms off the trine leader. Bluewing was watching his leader with a frown, having phantom pains from her tummy-ache, as well as his own quickly growing aches. Flamefall, however, had been woken from his recharge, and not understanding why his leader was crying, he started gnawing Bumblebee's digits in an attempt to get closer to her. Prime deftly removed the mechling from Bee's care and cradled him close to his own chassis. Flamefall looked up at the face plates of the mech holding him. Then he looked down. And he squealed with delight. He was so _tall_! His winglets wiggled, and his little pedes kicked with excitement. He wanted to fly.

"Now, now, Flamefall. This is not the time for that," Prime murmured, his voice rumbling from his chest. Flamefall squeaked happily as he looked up at Prime. He really liked this mech. He couldn't understand what he was saying, but he knew one thing: the mech made him feel safe. He cuddled closer to the large mech's chassis, seeking out the warmth. His spark reached out hesitantly. He wanted to feel this safe all the time.

Prime jolted at the tugging feeling in his spark. The commander immediately recognized it as a sort of spark call. Someone was trying to form a bond with him. But how? The spark signature wasn't familiar to him, and it was weak… And it was coming from right in front of him… Like… _Right _in front of him… Prime couldn't resist his curiosity and hesitantly returned that tugging feeling and nearly collapsed under the sudden emotions that flooded him. They were erratic to say the least, ranging from overjoyed to slightly uncomfortable. A slowly growing empty feeling in his tank made him grimace. He had refueled only a few moments ago. How could he…

No.

Dear Primus, did he really just…?

A groan. Curiosity killed the cybercat…

He looked down at the white opticed sparkling in his servos. Now _his_ sparkling. Well, this was a new experience. He wondered idly what Elita would say. She'd probably laugh, roll those beautiful blue optics, and say that it was just like him to establish a bond like that. And she'd probably fall in love with the little mechling in his servos without processing twice.

"Prime." Ratchet's gruff voice snapped the commander from his reverie, and the tall mech looked down to see a bottle being held out to him. He glanced up at Ratchet, who was glaring at him. "Sometime this orn, Prime," he grouched. Optimus grabbed the bottle and took a step back, silently wondering if he should tell Ratchet about this new bond. He watched silently as the aforementioned CMO shoved a bottle into Jazz's empty servo before whacking the back of his helm.

Yeah, he should probably keep this one to himself for now…

Flamefall cooed quietly, wanting the bottle in his new mech creator's servo. He looked up at Prime, white optics shining. He squeaked and twisted in Prime's grasp, reaching for the bottle. The Autobot leader maneuvered the sparkling in his grasp so that the child was lying on his back, held in the crook of Prime large arm. With his other arm, Prime held the tubing to the mechling's mouth plates. Flamefall gave a happy trill and started sucking down the med-grade.

Once the other two bottles had been distributed, Ratchet gratefully lifted up the last sparkling into his servos. Breakfree sniffled and hiccupped as Ratchet cradled her up against his chassis. He crooned wordlessly to her as she clicked in his arms. He lifted the bottle to her lips and smiled as she started drinking. She clicked as she drank, little pedes kicking and winglets twitching.

"There you go, sparklet. That tastes good, doesn't it?" Ratchet cooed, causing the other mechs in the room to give him strange looks again. Breakfree, however, squealed at his voice and snuggled closer to his chassis, loving the attention. She glanced over at Flamefall when she felt something strange in her spark. It was as if there was an outside source invading their bond. It wasn't coming from her side, but from his. The phantom feelings centered on love, so Breakfree wasn't scared of them. She was just…surprised. She studied the mech holding her wingmate and decided that he wasn't so bad.

She moved her gaze back to the mech feeding her, then looked over at the mech refueling Bluewing. The black mech had been the one to bring her to the chartreuse mech, so she decided that she liked him, too. She squeaked as her full tanks lulled her into a light recharge. Ratchet smiled down at her as he tapped her back to get any air bubbles out of her tanks. She gave a small burp before her optics dimmed, and her systems slowed in recharge. Ratchet smiled as he laid her back on the padded recharge berth. She curled up slightly and clicked tiredly. A few minutes later, her trine-mates were placed on either side of her. The two snuggled up to their leader and joined her in recharge. Ratchet smiled as he covered the three with an oversized blanket.

"Okay. Any bot that isn't a medic better be gone by the time this light is dimmed, or you'll be meeting the business end of my wrench," Ratchet threatened. Just like that, all bots aside from Jolt fled the room. Ratchet smiled as he settled back in his seat and continued where he left off on his datapad. Yep. Life was good.

* * *

><p>Starscream scowled as he watched Skywarp dispose of the remains of the two dead sparklings. Thundercracker was sulking in the background. There was only one thing on the three Seeker's minds, and they each knew that their thoughts centered on the same things: the three Seeklets. The only three saplings that had survived. It had only been a few joors, but the three couldn't deny the sense of loss that shrouded over them. They had cared for those hatchlings since they were still in their sacs. They were Seekerlets, offspring of Seekers, and the Decepticon trine knew that the Autobots, though able to raise them, couldn't teach them the things they would require. Breakfree would need someone to train her to use her leader bond to command the trine. Flamefall and Bluewing would need to know how to use that bond to ask for commands and advice while flying in formation. The three would need to be taught how to create their different flight patterns. They would need to know how to fly through space. They would need to learn how to embrace their heritage.<p>

And the three Seekers planned on making sure that happened.

"Skywarp, Thundercracker, prepare to infiltrate the Autobot ship. That was the last sapling, so our duty here is done. We will find our hatchlings and take them back. We will raise them as our own. I will not allow the Autobots _or_ the Decepticons to take _my_ creations."

"Yes, Lord Starscream. I am in agreement. It is time the Autobots learn what happens when you mess with a Seeker's charge," Thundercracker snarled.

"Yeah. What's the plan, Screamer?" Skywarp chimed in angrily.

"Simple. Get in, get what we need, and leave. Let's prepare." With that order, the three ex-'cons brought their guns from subspace and began reloading them for the first time in orns.

* * *

><p>1)I lied. I actually got it out on Tuesday, rather than Wednesday because my cheerleading tryouts are tomorrow, and I'm not going to have time to write. Why does my school see fit to make my las t week at school so packed, I know not. But I ain't gonna complain. So yeah.<p>

2)This chapter was pitifully stort. I sorry.

3) refuses to let me reply to reviews. i don't know if it's another maintenance check or something, but I just wanted to let y'all know, so ya don't think I'm ignorin' ya.

4)Those who faithfully follow my stories (I love y'all BTW) I won't be updating every Friday anymore. School's getting out and I want to take some college courses before my senior year. Plus, I have to get a job. No, I don't want one, but I really need one. I'm kinda behind in that area anyways. So... college courses + job + cheerleading + volunteer work = little time for the two sparkling stories and the two new stories I'm working on behind the scenes. So, please bear with me.

5)These two new strories will be up as soon as I have at least five chapters written on each of them. One of them is Optimus/OC post-war on Cybertron. The other is Semi-romance Ratchet/OC, but not as much. So... yeah. Those are my plans.

6) Review, and I'm done rambling. Next chapter should start out cuddly, but I hope to start up some action.


	5. Chapter 5

Klik- under a second

Breem- 8.3 minutes

Joor- 6 hours

Orn- 2 weeks

Vorn- 83 years

**::Comm. link::**

_**Sparkling speak.**_

**((Emotions through bonds))**

**/Bond speak/**

**~Seeker language~**

Disclaimer: I do not own transformers. I do own all the OCs, though, and the plot. Enjoy, folks.

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 5<span>

Flamefall gave a small squeak as he awoke. What a wonderful nap he had. Now, he needed to let his systems wake up. He stretched his arms and legs, making the little muscle relays warm up under the large blanket. He wondered idly where the blue one he got from Thundercracker was. No matter. Daddy would probably get him a new one. Flamefall wiggled his wings as he reached out to his new bond.

**((Love. Curiosity. The desire for Daddy's presence.))** The answer was immediate.

**/I love you, too, young one./** Flamefall squealed happily at the sudden rush of love. Flamefall sent back that same desire for his father's presence. **/Not now, sparklet. Recharge./**

Flamefall was going to do just that when he heard a small click from the femme he was cuddled up against. Breakfree's pedes gave an abrupt kick as she started moving. Purple optics flicked on and took in the scene around her. She gave a low buzz, slightly upset at her recharge cycle being disturbed. Flamefall was unrepentant. He got to spend time with his leader without Bluewing taking all her attention! He snuggled closer to her and gave a happy trill. She chirped disparagingly. She was tired and didn't quite feel like dealing with his affections. She actually wanted Ratchet to come pick her up again. She wanted to hear his sparkbeat again. It made her feel so safe and comfortable. However, she allowed her trine mate to hug her as if she were about to disappear. He could do that while she tried to find her favorite mech.

Ratchet stood from his position in his office when he heard Breakfree's extremely loud trill. He chuckled to himself as he moved toward the padded berth. Bluewing was slowly coming out of recharge, his optic band still dim. Flamefall appeared to have been out of recharge for quite a while and was apparently filled with energy. Breakfree seemed to be taking the brunt of that energy as her wing mate held her as close as possible. Breakfree squawked irritably as her little optics scanned the room. Surely _one _of her favorite mechs was here. Her optics finally landed on Ratchet's form in the dimmed light. She squealed joyfully as she rolled partially onto Bluewing in order to see the CMO better. Bluewing squawked angrily at the added weight on top of him and wriggled around on his stomach in an attempt to get his leader off of him. Ratchet chuckled as he lifted Breakfree up. She chirped joyfully as he held her close.

"Let's get you a new blanket," Ratchet said with a smile. Breakfree trilled at his voice. She loved his voice. She chirped at his as he laid her on her back in between her two wing mates. She followed him with her optics as Flamefall went back to cuddling her. He lifted up a clean white blanket and moved toward his favorite patient, opening a comm. link as he did.

**::Ratchet to Prime:: **

**::This is Prime. Is something wrong, Ratchet?::**

**::Of course not, Prime. I have done some research, though, and I think it would be okay to separate the three Seeklets for certain amounts of time.:: **Ratchet could almost see Prime sitting up straighter and setting down whatever he was working on.

**::Explain.::**

**::Previous studies say that it is best for Seeklets to not only stay near each other, but near their creators. Seeing as they have no set creators, I believe we should have a few of our mechs… I guess you could say that they should "adopt" one of them. They can spend a joor out of each other's presence, but they will have to spend the next joor together. Slowly, the amount of time that they can spend apart from each other will grow.::**

**::I see…::** Prime murmured, and once again, Ratchet could imagine his leader leaning back in his chair, his hand on his chin thoughtfully.

**::I would gladly take in Breakfree,::** Ratchet threw in for good measure.

**::I understand and agree. I will take in Flamefall,::** the Autobot leader stated. Ratchet smiled slyly as he wrapped his newly adopted daughter up in her new blanket.

**::Then all we need is a mech to watch Bluewing::** Ratchet commented as he reached over and grabbed two clean blankets after setting his new daughter onto her stomach. She cuddled into her fuzzy blanket with a chirp and didn't protest when Flamefall glomped her. It didn't matter much, because Ratchet immediately lifted Flamefall up and away from his leader. The mechlet gave a worried and irritated whine as Ratchet deftly wrapped the squirming body up in a white blanket.

"Calm down, Flamefall," Ratchet mumbled. **::So how do we figure this out? Bluewing will need a caretaker.::**

**::Perhaps Jazz would adopt him,::** Prime suggested.

**::He is gone fairly often on missions.::**

**::And Mirage would meet the same problems.::**

**::I'd say Ironhide, but Bluewing's dead afraid of him,::** Ratchet stated with a snicker as he set Flamefall back down beside his leader.

**::Then perhaps we should ask for volunteers. Do you think it is too early for them to meet the crew?::** Ratchet contemplated this question while wrapping up the mech that they were speaking about.

**::I believe Flamefall and Breakfree would love the attention. Bluewing is more… well, easily spooked. I think he'll be fine if nobody moves…::** Ratchet hypothesized.

**::Very well. I will have everybot in the rec room in two breems.::**

**::Very well. Ratchet out.:: **The medic smiled down at the three seeklets as he cut the comm. link. "Now, you three get to have creators. You belong to me now, Breakfree," he crooned as he lifted up his child. Breakfree chirped as she cuddled into Ratchet's chassis. Bluewing and Flamefall didn't wait to voice their protests in Ratchet's movements. The medic chuckled at the two as he set Breakfree back down between them. She trilled as she rolled over onto her back, completely ignoring the fact that she had rolled right into Bluewing. The blue-winged mechlet squealed and took that opportunity to hug her. She ignored him, though, as she stared at Ratchet and his beautiful paintjob.

Flamefall, who had been carefully observing his leader, followed her example and rolled over onto his back. Unfortunately, he needed to roll one more time in order to get to her side, and he wasn't quite sure how to get from his back to his stomach. Breakfree hadn't done that. What did that mean? Was he going to be stuck like this forever? He whimpered at the thought. He didn't want to be like this forever. Ratchet clicked at Flamefall, easily gaining the hatchling's attention.

"Now, don't you worry," Ratchet murmured in a comforting voice. "You can lay by your leader," he added as he moved the little sparkling over enough for him to join in the leader hug fest. Ratchet smiled at them. "You three may very well give the Autobots a kind of hope that we haven't had since we were booted off Earth."

**::Ratchet to Jazz::**

**::Jazz 'ere. 'Sup, Ratch?::**

**::I require your assistance in cleaning the sparklings. They are being introduced to the crew in a few breems, and I would rather them be completely clean::**

**::A'ight. Be there in a klik::** Jazz closed off the link, and Ratchet opened one with Mirage.

**::Ratchet to Mirage::**

**::Yes, sir?::**

**::Come help me in the medbay:: **Ratchet didn't offer an explanation before closing the link. He simply walked across the bay to where a sink sat. He grabbed a large basin that was usually used to clean his larger tools. It was a good 6 feet long, so three mechs could have easy access the pool if someone stood to the side. Ratchet started filling it with water, adding in some solvent from one of the containers. A questioning squeak rose from across the room. He glanced behind him and grinned. Breakfree was lying on her stomach completely on top of Bluewing, and her little optics were locked on the CMO, completely ignoring her trinemate he squirmed beneath her in an attempt to get her off. Ratchet moved to the berth where they were situated on and gently lifted the femme up. He held the happily twittering sparkling against his chassis as he made his way back to the sink. He shut off the water and glanced back at the door a second before it hissed open.

"Wha'sup?" Jazz greeted as he sauntered in. Mirage followed with a more confused look on his face plates.

"You two, move this basin onto the edge of that berth," Ratchet ordered immediately, pointed to the berth to the right of the berth that held the sparklings. Jazz and Mirage exchanged looks before obeying. Meanwhile, Ratchet moved to one of his cabinets and pulled out three white towels and three small wash cloths. He placed the towels beside the basin and placed the wash cloths beside them, careful to hold on to Breakfree's moving form. Ratchet grabbed a wash cloth and moved toward the basin before glancing over at the clueless mechs.

"Well, don't stand around doing nothing. Grab a sparkling and start washing," Ratchet snapped. Breakfree squeaked and looked up at Ratchet, confused by his angry voice. He rubbed her helm and said in a reassuring voice, "Don't worry, sparklet. I wasn't talking to you. I was talking to those two stupid mechs." Breakfree squeaked again, this time, in a happier tone. He lifted Breakfree away from his chest, earning a confused click. Breakfree squawked in confusion and fright when he set her down in the warm water. She grabbed onto his servo and hugged it like it was a lifeline, optics offline and vents closed tightly.

Nothing happened.

She hesitantly onlined one optic to find that she wasn't melting, she wasn't suddenly floating away, and she wasn't fading from existence. In fact, this stuff actually felt really good. It was warm and felt really funny. She onlined her other optic and slowly moved one of her hands from Ratchet. She looked up at him, confused, to find that he had a wide and highly amused smile on his face. Breakfree cautiously slapped the water. She immediately pulled it back and offlined her optics again, just in case the liquid got angry with her and ate her.

Nothing happened, so she onlined her optics again and hit it again. Her optics widened at the strange circles that fanned out from where her hand connected with the liquid. She looked up at Ratchet quickly, then back at the water, then back at Ratchet, trying in vain to figure out what the substance was and why it was making those weird circles. Her optics locked on the water, and she released Ratchet's hand completely. That hand swiftly moved around her body so that it helped her stay sitting up. Breakfree hesitantly opened her intakes, being cautious just in case the solution she was sitting in did something sneaky. When nothing happened, she gave a small chirp before slapping both hands down into the water. Little bits of water flew up a little before crashing back down onto the surface to rejoin the rest of the liquid. Breakfree frowned.

"Now, what's the matter?" Ratchet questioned as he dampened the wash cloth. Breakfree looked up at him sadly, but her attention was grabbed by the sound of two more splashes on either side of her. Bluewing gave a terrified wail as he flailed around in Jazz's claws, desperately attempting to climb back up the saboteur's arms. Jazz gave a surprised yelp as he tried to get Bluewing back in the water. Breakfree giggled at them, which caused Bluewing to freeze. His helm slowly turned to stare at his leader. She was in the evil wet stuff! _He had to save her!_ Bluewing released Jazz's claws, and the black mech had to rush to catch him. Jazz gave an exasperated sigh as he sat Bluewing back in the water. The mechling looked over at Breakfree and gave a reassuring squawk. She didn't have to worry. He was coming to save her! Breakfree, for her part, giggled and splashed in the water, wiggling her little wings and moving her little Optimus-esque antennae. Bluewing's expression became one of confusion, then slowly morphed to one of understanding. Of _course_ Breakfree wasn't afraid of the scary mech-eating liquid. _It_ was afraid of _her_. The stuff knew that if it tried anything shady, Breakfree would beat it up. Well, that solved all his problems. Bluewing sat sedately as Jazz started scrubbing his armor.

Flamefall, though, was delighted by the water. It was warm and made his underdeveloped sensors tingle. He whistled and twittered, much like his leader did, as he splashed in the water. A chirp caught his attention, and Flamefall paused in his splashing to look at Breakfree.

_**Squeak chirp chirp click buzz chirp!**_ She didn't think the water was very good at flying. To prove her point, she hit the water with her palm, and the two sparklings watched as the water lost the battle with gravity and collided with the watery surface. Flamefall beeped in agreement, and the two decided through their bond that they would try to help the poor little drops of water learn to fly. They weren't sure how, but they had determination.

"Okay, enough playing, sparklet. Let's get you cleaned up," Ratchet said with a gentle smile. Breakfree looked up at her caretaker, curious as to what he was saying. A second later, a wet rag started rubbing against the back of her helm. Breakfree chirped happily, enjoying the feeling. Her chirps died down, and a low purr rose from her little engine. The three mechs grinned at her reaction. Mirage followed Ratchet's example, rubbing his cloth against Flamefall's helm. Flamefall looked up at the aristocratic mech with wide optics, but remained otherwise silent. Bluewing, however, purred very loudly, leaning into Jazz's touch. Jazz was frowning as he washed the mechling.

"I think this li'l guy 'as a mood swing probl'm," Jazz claimed.

"I would agree with you were he not a newly…hatched sparkling," Ratchet stated. "It isn't a rare thing for sparklings to have quickly changing moods when confronted with new things."

"Ah," was Jazz's eloquent reply as he cleaned the mechlet's winglets. Bluewing clicked quietly at the soothing feeling. Jazz allowed himself to smile, despite how strange the little one acted most of the time. Ratchet suddenly lifted Breakfree from the water and walked around Jazz to where the large towels had been placed. Breakfree chirped and whistled as Ratchet held her to his chassis with one hand and used the other to spread out a towel. Worried little squeaks rose from the basin where the two mechs were still being cleaned. Breakfree answered with a reassuring squawk before Ratchet started rubbing her little helm with the end of the towel. Breakfree giggled and squealed as she rolled to avoid the attack. Ratchet chuckled as he played her game, swiftly moving the different ends of the towel to intercept her squirming body. It took an extra five minutes of their time, which Jazz and Mirage used to transport their own clicking charges toward the towel pile.

Bluewing whistled happily as Jazz wrapped the towel around him and started rubbing the outside of the towel to dry him. Mirage glanced at Jazz, but decided that he should follow Ratchet's example instead. He laid the towel out on the berth and laid Flamefall on the towel. He gently ran the dry ends of the towel over Flamefall's wet, nearly non-existent armor. The sparkling cooed and purred, but didn't move around like Breakfree. Instead, he simply laid there and enjoyed the attention.

"Wrap them up in one of those white blankets and head to the rec room," Ratchet ordered as he started wrapping up his little white-winged Seeklet. Breakfree twittered at him, wanting him to understand her happiness and excitement. Not only had she been allowed to sit in the fun, flightless liquid, but now, Ratchet was taking her on an adventure! She was so excited! The door made that familiar hissing noise as it opened for them. As they passed through it, Breakfree looked up at it, open-mouthed. It was so tall! She wanted to go through it again! Unfortunately, Ratchet wasn't heading back. Breakfree pouted a little, but decided that it was better for her adventure if they went forward. When Ratchet turned down the hall, twin squeaks of horror rose from the medbay behind them. Breakfree squirmed in Ratchet's servos in an attempt to see over his shoulder. He kept her firmly held against his chestplates, though, effectively preventing her from peeking back at the 'bay. She did, however, give a returning trill of assurance.

Once Ratchet left, the two mechlets went insane. Flamefall started squirming violently, holding his hands out to the door as if to make it come closer. Mirage sped up the drying process and quickly wrapped the sparkling up. Jazz, however, wasn't having any such luck, seeing as Bluewing was much more verbal with his terror. Bluewing started wailing the klik he heard Breakfree's finally vocalization. He squirmed around, kicking his pedes and clenching his little fists in distress. Jazz felt his own sense of horror rising. What was slaggin' _wrong_ with this kid? Why was he so freaked out when Flamefall was acting perfectly fine?

"Now, now. Calm down, sparklet. It ain't like ya neva gonna see 'er again," Jazz mumbled. Bluewing ignored him, though, as he sobbed at the loss of his beloved leader. Jazz groaned as he quickly wrapped the sparkling up. He dashed out of the medbay and after Ratchet. Mirage hesitated only a moment before following at a similar speed to catch up.

Breakfree clicked inquisitively as she studied the hallway they were passing through. There were so many _doors_! They stood tall and sturdy, simply begging to be walked through! Unfortunately, Ratchet was walking resolutely past every single one of them. Breakfree watched them as she was carried past them. Her attention was diverted when she heard a loud wailing sound. The uncomfortable sound was compounded with a horrified feeling in her spark, one that came from her two wingmates. Breakfree let out a small distressed whimper at the negative feelings that were smothering her spark. Ratchet glanced down at the sparkling in his servos.

"I suppose you dislike that racket as much as I do, don't you?" Ratchet murmured in a light tone. Breakfree squeaked at him. "Ah. I believe you and I are going to get along very well, my sparklet."

"'Ey, Ratch! Slow down b'fo'e Bluewing glitches!" Jazz cried from behind him. Ratchet paused in his gait and turned slightly toward the Third in Command as he rushed toward him. Breakfree gave a questioning squeak to her wingmate, wanting to get rid of the fear in her spark that he was sending her. Bluewing twisted in Jazz's grasp and gave Breakfree a pitiful look of sparkbreak. Breakfree twittered at him as she waved her little hands at him. He was so sad, and like any good leader, she wanted to cheer him up. That's when she got the perfect idea.

_**Click click squeak buzz!**_ Had he noticed the doors? They were rather interesting to her. She pointed to the nearest door to accentuate her baby speech. Bluewing's gaze followed her servo before he looked at the thing she was pointing at. He frowned. It wasn't all that interesting to him… but if Breakfree liked it, then it must be worth _something_. He studied the door, but still couldn't figure out why she was obsessing over it. He clicked once in agreement, just to satisfy her and was rewarded with a joyous and thankful squeal. Bluewing giggled at her, happy that she was happy.

"Wow. I don' know wha' they're talkin' 'bout, but it must be pretty int'restin'," Jazz murmured as Mirage stepped up beside them.

"Now, that we're all here, I suggest we get to the rec room. We are already late," Mirage suggested. Ratchet and Jazz nodded and continued forward at a sedate pace. There was no hurry, after all.

* * *

><p>Prime stood in front of his medium sized group of Autobots, Prowl by his side. He knew without a doubt that the rest of his army was split up in between two commanders: Ultra Magnus and Elita-One. He was sure some were still scattered across the universe, no doubt searching for the already-destroyed Allspark. His current group only had about twenty-five mechs, and every one of them, aside from three, were in front of him, either seated in one of the rec room's chairs or standing in a position that allowed those sitting down to see their commander.<p>

"I have gathered you all here to inform you of a…surprise, for lack of better terms, found by Mirage on his latest mission onto the retired ship, _Nemesis_," Prime started, wincing a little at how inadequate his words were for the situation. Murmurs rose from the Autobots, speculations of a secret weapon or found prisoners. Prime continued on before the speculations grew.

"It, rather _they_, were a great surprise to us. The Decepticons have been hiding much from us, and on his mission… Mirage discovered some rather distressing, yet wonderful information. In addition to this, we discovered why Starscream and his trine have not been battling us." More murmurs.

"It seems Megatron has called upon Starscream's scientific knowledge and allowed him the _Nemesis_ as a lab. We all know that the Allspark was destroyed and that the femmes have all but disappeared, so Starscream's objective was to create a sparkling without the use of either source. These sparklings are incubated in thin sacs that transfer nutrients to them. For the most part, Starscream and his trine have failed. Lack of energon has offlined every sparkling they have created. Any energon they _do_ have is in some stage of de-energization.

"However…not all offlined. In fact," Prime said, receiving a comm. from Ratchet announcing their arrival, "they're coming in right now. Please, stay still. One of them is extremely skittish around strangers."

At that moment, the rec room's door, which was located to the right of Prime and Prowl, hissed opened, and in walked Ratchet. Breakfree, who was held against his chassis, was looking up at the doorway with something akin to awe. Her attention was sufficiently diverted, though, when a collective gasp rose from the Autobots gathered in the room, followed swiftly by murmurs. She stared at the many different mechs in front of her, and they stared at her as Ratchet moved past the doorway. Breakfree looked up at Ratchet to find him smiling down at her. She grinned and let out a loud giggle at the obvious attention she was getting. She looked around at the other mechs and let out a string of clicks, trills, and whistles in greeting. Chuckles rose from her crowd of impromptu admirers. Her optics suddenly caught a familiar figure as they passed him, and she squealed and lunged for him.

"Gah!" Ratchet said unintelligibly as he swiftly caught her. Bumblebee, for his part, didn't laugh at the medic, but held out his hands for the little femling.

"I think Jazz requires your assistance," Bumblebee stated plainly as he stood to take Breakfree into his servos. Ratchet turned to see Bluewing squirming in Jazz's claws, desperately reaching for Breakfree. Ratchet handed the twittering femme over and moved to assist the saboteur, asking what the slag he did to freak the kid out this bad. A red mech strode to Bumblebee's side. The mech looked exactly like Bumblebee, only he had horns instead of Bumblebee's flap-like antennae, and he had no doorwings.

"So, this is one of the sparklings?" he murmured, closely studying her. Breakfree studied him, as well, and after a few minutes, she frowned and turned away from him. Boisterous laughs rose from behind them.

"Snubbed once again, Cliffjumper! And by a sparkling, no less!" a dark blue mech chortled. Cliffjumper growled.

"Mute it, scrap!" Cliffjumper snapped. Breakfree glanced over Bumblebee's shoulder to see who the blue mech was. She wished she hadn't. His paint was, indeed, dark blue and shiny, but he had a weird navy blue boxy thing over her head with pointy white things on it. Breakfree's little optics filled with coolant as fear gripped her. Bumblebee noticed this and moved her from his shoulder to his chassis, covering her head with the blanket so she wouldn't have any more scares. Cliffjumper, however, was taunting the blue mech, Tracks, for making a sparkling cry just by his appearance. Tracks quickly grew angry, so Bumblebee wisely moved away from them, opting to stand by his leader and the Second in Command beside him.

In the back of the room, Jazz was attempting to hand a crying Bluewing over to Ratchet. The second Bluewing had seen all the optics on him, he had started crying. He wriggled against Jazz's chassis, trying to completely disappear. Now, Jazz had no problem hiding the little mech from the inquisitive gazes that had him so frightened, but he had his limits. Allowing a sparkling that he had no bond with into his hold was past his limits. There was something about having a child sitting up against his spark that made him shudder. So, as it went in the chain of command, Jazz desperately attempted to pass the burden onto the next unlucky sap. That unlucky sap came in the form of Ratchet. Sadly, Bluewing had resolutely attached himself to Jazz's armor.

While they were wrestling to get the remarkably strong sparkling off of Jazz, Mirage was fighting to keep his charge in his servos. Once Flamefall saw Prime, he squealed happily and dove for the Autobot Commander. Mirage lurched forward, barely keeping the bouncing sparkling in his hands. Flamefall was having none of that, though. He leaned forward in an attempt to roll out of his temporary caregiver's hands. Mirage had a look of mild horror as he fought to keep the hatchling from tumbling to the ground. Suddenly, as if summoned, Prime was suddenly in front of him, lifting Flamefall from his arms. The large Autobot cradled his new son to his chassis as he thanked Mirage for bringing him.

"Bumblebee, kindly take Breakfree over to Bluewing, so that she can calm him down," Prime called out. Bumblebee nodded as he jogged over to Ratchet's position. He uncovered Breakfree's helm and clicked at Bluewing to get his attention. The mechling quieted down to look up. His optic band lit up when he saw his leader, and he lifted his arms up in hopes to be lifted closer to his trinemate. Jazz, eager to get rid of the little Pit-spawn, placed him against Bee's chassis, allowing the younger 'bot to hold them both. Bluewing whimpered as he freed his arms to hug his leader. For once, Breakfree hugged him back. The mechs in the room smiled at the public display of affection from the two babies.

"Well," Mirage remarked as Bumblebee and Prime made their way back to the front of the room, "that was quite an entrance."

"Indeed," Prime mumbled. "Autobots, these three are the first and only to be sparked without the aid of the Allspark or a femme. They survived because of their trine bond. The white-winged femme is designated Breakfree." Breakfree wasn't really paying attention to Prime, though. You see, she had caught sight of Prowl, and now, he was the focal point of her optics. She glanced up at Bumblebee, as if to say, "Give me over," and a second later, she was reaching for the Second in Command. Snorts and muffled laughter were heard from the back of the room. The crowd parted as everyone looked back to see who was laughing. The movement and noise combined grabbed at Breakfree's short attention span, and she glanced over at the 'bots who were causing the commotion. And she had to double-take.

He. Was. So. _Shiny_! She squealed as she stared at him. He was so beautiful! His paintjob wasn't as pretty as Ratchet's, but it was _shinier_! She chirped and whistled as she reached for him. Ratchet, whom no one had been paying attention to, spoke up.

"Sunstreaker, Sideswipe! Front and center!" Breakfree's excited vocalizations grew when the object of her fascination moved forward to meet Ratchet, who had moved to stand in front of Bumblebee. Ratchet turned and lifted Breakfree and Bluewing from Bumblebee's chassis, and he placed them against Sunstreaker. The mech's arms reflexively came up to support them, and Ratchet swiftly removed his hands to keep Sunstreaker from handing them back. Breakfree squealed happily and patted his chest plate to inform him of his beauty.

"What the slag, Ratchet!" Sunstreaker snapped.

"Well, you saw fit to laugh at Prowl's position with the femling, so I saw fit to put you in his position," Ratchet said with an evil smile. He turned back to address the crowd. "Breakfree is rather obsessed with shiny paint, bright colors, and kibble that resembles wings. That is why she likes Prowl so much, and why she is currently obsessed with Sunstreaker's lovely paintjob," Ratchet said with a sarcastic smile. Sunstreaker growled at the CMO, but Ratchet was unaffected. "As you were saying Prime?"

"Yes… The blue-winged mechling is…well, designated Bluewing. And this one here is Flamefall," Prime continued. "Breakfree is the trine leader, and like all Seeker trines, her wingmates need direct contact with her every other joor. Those in between joors, though, we plan on separating them to teach them how to grow their bond. Any volunteers to watch them for a joor?" Servos shot up into the air as Breakfree's and Flamefall's names were shouted out. Bluewing cuddled closer to his wing leader, squeaked quietly at the loud noise. Breakfree agreed with him. She didn't like the loud voices assaulting her audios, either. Her little optics filled with coolant, and Sunstreaker and Sideswipe noticed immediately.

"Uhhhh, Hatchet?" Sideswipe said hesitantly. Unfortunately, the medic was too busy arguing with a mech who wanted to adopt Breakfree indefinitely. Ratchet was claiming creatorship over the femling while the other mech claimed that it was unfair because he hadn't been given a chance. Breakfree whimpered a little as she held her little arms out for Ratchet. He wasn't looking at her, though. Finally, she decided enough was enough. Every mech in the room went silent when a piercing wail filled the air, and all optics shot over to Sunstreaker, who had a look of mild panic on his faceplates. Breakfree was nuzzling her helm into his chassis, coolant flowing from her optics and mouth plates open as she continued to wail. Her little fists were clenched, and her faceplates were screwed up in distress.

"Slag it all! What did you do, Sunstreaker?" Ratchet snapped as he strode over to the front-liner's side.

"You're the one who completely ignored her," Sunstreaker mumbled.

"Hand her here," Ratchet ordered, holding out his hands. Sunstreaker didn't hesitate to dump the femling into his servos, though it was difficult to separate her from the mechling. Breakfree curled into Ratchet chassis as the large mech tried to calm her crying. "You don't like this noise, so you, Breakfree?" The femling hiccupped as she tried to intake air as her little cooling fans worked on keeping her body from overheating in her sorrow.

"You'd think that paintjob would make her smile," Sideswipe mumbled. Ratchet subspaced a wrench and threw it at the red twin without looking. A loud _clank_ filled the silence, and Breakfree paused in her bawling to giggle. Sunstreaker glanced over at Sideswipe, then looked back at Breakfree, who was still sniffling.

"Well, look at that. She stopped crying…" Sunstreaker mumbled. He looked at his brother a second before bringing a golden fist down on his brother's helm.

"Ow!" Sideswipe yelped, as he fell forward. Breakfree's loud giggles filled the room, gaining smiles and a few sighs of relief. Prime smiled as he watched the scene.

"Perhaps we should have any bots that would like to watch them report to Prowl in a joor. Ratchet will be the main caregiver for Breakfree, and I will be Flamefall's primary caregiver. We still need a primary caregiver for Bluewing," Prime stated. Prime frowned when nobody volunteered. Mechs looked around at each other, trying to see if anyone was raising their servo, each one wondering if they should volunteer.

"Slag it," a voice in the back mumbled before speaking louder. "I'll do it, Prime."

"Thank you, Ironhide," Prime replied, not missing the hesitant look on his Weapons Specialist's faceplates. He glanced around the room one more time before finishing his speech. "I will appreciate any help given, and if you would like to volunteer to watch one of the trine, please report to Prowl in a joor. He will work up a schedule and inform you where to pick up your assigned sparkling, as well as what is expected of you in caring for that sparkling. That is all. Dismissed."

Bluewing let out a frightened squawk when the room was filled with movement and burrow into his blanket in an attempt to disappear. Breakfree, however, stared at the mechs as they walked past. She giggled at the few that touched her nose plating as they passed. She looked up at Ratchet with a smile and giggled when he grinned back.

'You are quite popular," he informed her. Breakfree squealed happily, though she wasn't sure what he was saying. Ratchet chuckled at her as he bent down to grab the thrown wrench. Breakfree squeaked at him and reached out for the wrench. Ratchet moved it close to her and grinned when it was immediately stuffed into her mouthplates. Her face screwed up humorously, and she quickly removed the wrench from her mouth, sticking out her glossa in disgust. She scowled cutely up at Ratchet, as if blaming him for letting her put the wrench in her mouth. He rolled his optics and started walking. "Come on, you. Let's get you back to the medbay. Ironhide, take Bluewing from Sunshine and meet me at my bay."

"Don't call me that!" Sunstreaker yelled at the same moment Ironhide said, "Sure thing, Ratch." A second later, a frightened wail filled the emptying rec room. Breakfree winced under the onslaught of fear that assaulted her spark from her wingmate.

"Oh, good job, slaghead!" Sunstreaker snapped.

"Why you little–" Ironhide was cut off by an increase in volume from the blue-winged sparkling. Bluewing squirmed in Sunstreaker's grip, searching out his leader. Said leader was looking over at the golden mech holding her wingmate.

"Sunstreaker, follow me. Ironhide, speak with Prime. I'll comm. you later," Ratchet stated. He turned and left the rec room, followed by the golden twin. Breakfree squawked once at Bluewing in annoyance, tired of his crying. Bluewing quieted for a second before whistling in fear. Breakfree gave an answering chirp of reassurance. They were with Ratchet, and he wouldn't let anything happen to them. She clicked quietly in his grasp. With Ratchet, she was always safe.

* * *

><p>Well, there ya go, folks. i know i said there'd be some action, but I figured that could wait a chapter. i didn't expect the goings-on in this chapter to be 5k words long. So maybe next chapter. Happy readings. Reviews are loved!<p> 


	6. Chapter 6

Klik- under a second

Breem- 8.3 minutes

Joor- 6 hours

Orn- 2 weeks

Vorn- 83 years

**::Comm. link::**

_**Sparkling speak.**_

**((Emotions through bonds))**

**/Bond speak/**

**~Seeker language~**

Disclaimer: I do not own transformers. I do own all the OCs, though, and the plot. Enjoy, folks.

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><p><span>Chapter 6<span>

Ratchet was smiling as he spoke with Sunstreaker and Ironhide. Why was he smiling? Simple. Off to the right, behind Ironhide, Ratchet could catch glimpses of Breakfree and Bluewing as they amused themselves and by extension, tormented his poor assistant. Breakfree, enthralled by her new-found ability to do so, was rolling back and forth on the berth where she was situated, squealing joyfully as she did. Jolt shuffled back and forth, trying to keep her from falling off the berth. Bluewing, having finally managed to roll himself over, was flailing around violently on his back, trying with all his spark to flip back over. Jolt couldn't flip the poor mechling over, though, because he was too focused on Breakfree's erratic movements.

"Now, I think you should spend time in here this next joor, so that Bluewing can easily sense his leader's spark. You can recharge on one of the medical berths for this joor," Ratchet suggested. The last few breems had been spent on planning out ways to break Bluewing's fear of Ironhide. It was decided that Ironhide would just need to spend more time around the sparkling, getting him used to the black mech's presence. Needless to say, Ironhide was _not_ looking forward to it. "Stay near that back corner, so you'll be out of the way of any sudden emergencies." He looked past Ironhide for a few kliks before yelling out Jolt's name to get the 'bot's attention. "Start trying to calm them down. Lift Breakfree over your spark and rub her winglets near the base."

"Sunstreaker, I appreciate your assistance with Bluewing, and you will remain here until the mechling is deep in recharge, at which time, you will transfer him to Ironhide's servos so that he can become accustomed to Ironhide's spark thrum. You will be doing this every day at this same time," Ratchet stated.

"Wait! You mean I have to _stay_?" Sunstreaker griped.

"I don't wanna hear it, Sunshine!" Ratchet snapped as he strode past the golden warrior. "I have a little less than a joor before I'm on duty again, and anybot that disturbs me _will_ have a very painful examination next orn." He smiled as he lifted a now-dozing Breakfree from Jolt's chassis. "Now, let's get you all settled in," Ratchet cooed as he lifted the Seeklet a little higher than his belm before settling her against his chassis. "Sunstreaker, I suggest you lift Bluewing up and get him situated because I'm _not_ coming back out to help you two." Sunstreaker grumbled under his breath as he lifted the tiny mech into his servos. Bluewing clicked quietly, his leader's exhaustion filling his own body as if it started there. He rested his helm against the golden chassis and released a small squeak as his optic band dimmed.

"Looks like all that attention wiped him out," Sunstreaker murmured.

"Add in his valiant attempts to roll over, and you have a very tired sparkling. Newly sparked sparklings don't stay online for more than a joor at a time, anyways. Their systems have to get used to supporting all the frame's functions at a time. Plus, all the recharge gives their processors time to review and file away all the new information they receive," Ratchet informed the front-liner as he wrapped Breakfree in a white blanket. She squeaked quietly at him before looking him in the optics and smiling. Ratchet almost melted when he felt the tugging feeling in his spark. It was a persistent tugging that had an underlying feeling of love and hope. Never before had he formed a bond with someone like this. Sure, he had friendship bonds and an apprenticeship bond with Jolt, but he had never had a bond this personal, with someone so precious.

So, like any smart medic, he accepted the bond. After all, denying it _could_ give her negative feelings, and sparklings shouldn't be sad. It was bad for them… somehow. Ratchet grinned as he moved into his office that doubled as a berth room. The front half of the room contained a desk and a shelf that held medical datapads and a direct link-up with Teletraan in case he needed any information on a specific mech. Behind the desk was a berth that was pushed up flush against the wall. In the corner closest to the head of the berth was a counter that had an energon dispenser up top. In the cabinet below, high-grade was stored for when he had a particularly bad run in the medbay or when he had troubles sleeping at night. He'd had to get a sparkling-proof lock for that. In fact, he'd need to get rid of it completely. He didn't even want there to be a _possibility_ of his new baby getting energon poisoning. And she _was_ his. All his.

Ratchet walked quietly to his berth as his door hissed shut. He slowly hoisted himself up onto the flat surface and laid on his back. He situated his sparkling on his chest over his spark and made sure she was completely covered by the blanket. Breakfree squeaked once before offlining her optics. Her little body snuggled closer to Ratchet's, seeking out the heat of his spark and internal systems, and she gave a small huff of air as she settled down for the joor. Ratchet set his internal alarm and made sure to keep his sensors tuned to motion and any sound that came from the sparkling on his chest. He studied her one more time before he let his exhausted systems get the best of him, and he easily fell into the strong pull of recharge.

* * *

><p>In the medbay, Ironhide was sitting impatiently, waiting for the little mechlet to offline his optics. Sunstreaker was pacing with the sparkling in his servos. Bluewing's optic band was dimmed, but it weren't offlining completely. Sunstreaker turned again, pacing back towards Ironhide. Jolt watched him with a smirk of amusement. Fortunately for him, Sunstreaker was too busy to see it.<p>

"Try rubbing the base of his wings. It worked well with Breakfree," Jolt suddenly suggested. Sunstreaker glared at the medic-in-training, but followed his advice. Bluewing clicked as the light in his band faded, and his systems slowed as his recharge protocols activated.

"You couldn't have said that earlier?" Sunstreaker hissed. Jolt shrugged as he moved out of the medbay, headed to his room three doors down. Sunstreaker moved to Ironhide's side and wordlessly held out the mechling. Ironhide smiled at the peacefully recharging sparkling as he gently lifted him to his chassis, careful not wake him.

"There we go. You are dismissed, Sunstreaker. Hit the lights on the way out," Ironhide stated as he laid back.

"Finally," Sunstreaker muttered, tossing his hands up in the air as he turned to the door. He shut off the lights as he left the room, and Ironhide allowed his systems to slow in recharge. At least he knew he was safe from Sideswipe while he was hidden in the back corner of the medbay. With that, Ironhide was able to fall asleep with a smile on his faceplates.

* * *

><p>Sideswipe grinned as he silently slipped into the medbay. When the trine had been split up for the joor, the red mech had known that Ratchet would take the femling. He had been positively obsessing over her ever since they had found the Seeklets. Ironhide choosing Bluewing had been a mild surprise, but seeing as he had taken a big part in raising Bumblebee, it didn't quite seem so out of character. Now, Optimus Prime taking in Flamefall <em>had<em> been a shock and a mild disappointment. Sideswipe had been more than ready to adopt the little mech. The idea of raising a mechling, even if it was with the help of his twin, was rather pleasing to him, especially since sparkling were so rare. As it was, Sideswipe had signed himself _and_ his brother up for sparkling-sitting. That was beside the point, though. Right at that moment, Sideswipe was on a mission.

The wheeled mech moved through the medbay noiselessly, headed for the small office in the back of the bay. Sideswipe, having used that office in a recent prank, knew that the medic had a berth in there. The red mech knew that Ratchet would take this time to recharge, since he hadn't had much recharge lately, and Breakfree still didn't have a crib, which meant that she would have to recharge with the CMO.

It was perfect blackmail material.

Sideswipe didn't hesitate in opening the door, but he did wince at the loud hissing noise the hydraulics made as the door moved. He poked his head in and slowly looked around. No wrenches flew in his direction, so he slowly moved the rest of his body into the office. His wheels carried him forward in silence as he moved past the desk that seemed to separate Ratchet's office from the area that he lived in. His recharge berth was settled up against the wall, and Sideswipe grinned as he started capturing image stills.

Ratchet was lying on his back, silently cycling air as his systems recharged. The sparkling on his chest plates was easily spotted. She was covered by a white blanket and further shielded by the outside air by a chartreuse hand that was just a little bit bigger than her body. She had one of her servos in her mouth, and the other one was gently splayed out on the CMO's chassis, as she slumbered on her stomach.

'_How cute. Sleeping beauty and the beast,'_ Sideswipe thought to himself as he moved the photos into a file labeled "Ratchet Blackmail" in the back of his CPU. He snickered lightly as he turned to leave the room.

**::I won't be chasing you until Breakfree is awake, but expect to feel **_**a lot**_** of pain tomorrow for interrupting my recharge cycle::**

Ratchet's comm. broke off, and Sideswipe slowly turned around, dread filling his tank. His gaze met with the angry blue optics of the _Ark_'s CMO. The medic smiled evilly, and the red mech rushed from the room as quickly as his pedes would take him. Once the front-liner was gone, Ratchet settled back down. He resettled Breakfree over his spark chamber, letting her connect with his spark in her sleep. He felt her feeling of joy and curiosity and wondered idly what she was dreaming about. He smiled slightly as he offlined his optics and let his recharge protocols pick up where they had left off. For the first time in a long time, he wasn't having nightmares about this war, and he planned to take advantage of it.

* * *

><p>It was nearly a joor later when the comm. link woke the Autobot leader from his recharge. Optimus groaned as he onlined his optics. He <em>had<em> to stop falling asleep while he was at his desk. The large mech was sitting back in his chair, and Flamefall was nestled comfortably against his chestplates, right over his spark. The mechling was apparently having a rather enthralling dream, seeing his little pedes would randomly kick, and his little winglets wiggled as if he were taking off in flight. Any time his face came into view, Prime could see the large smile on his face, and through their new bond, he could feel the Seeklet's excitement. Optimus chuckled at his son. He was quite the active sleeper.

**::Prowl to Prime::**

**::Prime here. What do you need?::**

**::Meet in my office to pass off the sparklings to their next caregivers::**

**::Understood. Prime out::**

Prime gave a small sigh. He had spent the whole joor sleeping. Now, he wanted to spend the joor with his sparkling. He knew it wasn't going to happen. He had to make his rounds, and he didn't need three clingy and fussy sparklings being dragged along with him. He slowly got to his feet, carefully holding his baby close to his spark. Flamefall clicked quietly before letting out a small tired squeak. Little white optics onlined, and Flamefall looked up at his new opiluk.

_**Squeak?**_

"Good joor," Prime chuckled. Flamefall twittered happily. Mechs smiled as they passed their commander and his charge. A few voiced greetings before passing them. In a few minutes, Optimus was striding into Prowl's open door. Ratchet was sitting in one of the two seats in front of the SiC's desk. Breakfree was lying on her back on his lap, wide awake and giggling happily. Her right hand was clasped tightly around his pointer digit as if to keep the hand from being pulled away, and her left one was playing with the glow tool that transformed from the medic's middle finger and was used as light for inner circuitry repairs. Right now, it was the perfect playtoy. Ironhide was standing off to the side with a hesitant looking Bluewing in his hands. Luckily, the sparkling wasn't crying. Rather, he was studying the black mech's cannons pretty closely. Ironhide didn't seem to mind at all. In fact, he looked rather pleased by the little mechling's inspection. Sitting behind the desk was Prowl, and to the SiC's right was a newly-painted-silver Jazz, who was grinning as he watched Breakfree play. On his right, Sunstreaker was sulking and looking pointedly away from Ironhide.

"Ah. Welcome, Prime. We can now begin this meeting." Prowl began. "I have drawn up a Duty Roster for the care of the three hatchlings based on personality and general proven responsibility," Prowl stated as he handed Prime a copy of said roster. "Each primary caregiver has received a roster, and you will be notified if that roster changes, so that you are aware of your sparkling's location in an emergency situation." Prowl nodded to Jazz, who immediately seemed to pick up where the previous mech left off.

"Now, we've d'veloped a few plans tha' c'n be used t' ensure the sparklin's' safety when Decepticons attack. The three main areas tha' will be off limits t' the sparklin's during an attack are Prime's quarters, Prowler's quarters, an' the rec room. Prime's room b'cause tha' is the first place they will look, seein' as it's one a' the more heavily guarded rooms by the way of locks an' cameras, an' Prowl's room fo' the same reason." At this remark, Prime made an annoyed face, but nobot aside from Jazz noticed it. The little mech grinned as he continued.

"Me an' Prowler–" He gestured to his friend, "–'ave decided tha' the best three rooms t' place the sparklin's in the case of an attack would be Hatchet's personal office 'cuz no 'Con in their righ' processors would go there, in one of the hidden spots in the Special-Ops section of the trainin' room, and in Sideswipe's and Sunstreaker's quarters."

"That's not happening. I am not placing my sparkling's well-being in the hands of those two idiots," Ratchet voiced immediately. Sunstreaker glared at him, but didn't reply.

"They would not be in there. Bumblebee, Jolt, or Hound would likely be in there," Prowl stated. "It is simply a place for them to hide, seeing as the Decepticons wouldn't go to that area of the ship anyways."

"_Hmph_," Ratchet huffed, obviously not liking the idea. Movement on his lap grabbed his attention, and he grinned when he saw Breakfree. She was still on her back and gripping the glow tool, but she had twisted her body around to the right, and she was staring rather intently at Prowl. Little winglets wiggled, and Ratchet's grin grew. Now that his femling was staring at them, Ratchet could see that Prowl's wings had been moving pretty often, and that had obviously captured this sparkling's attention pretty easily. When Prowl saw that Ratchet was no longer paying attention, he stopped his lecture on sparkling safety and turned his attention to the oblivious medic, much a like a teacher would to a student who refused to listen.

"Are you even listening, Ratchet?" Prowl questioned. Breakfree squeaked loudly, gaining Prowl's attention as well. She chirped at him and wiggled her wings, though the movement was restrained quite a bit by Ratchet's legs. "I apologize, Breakfree, but I do not speak the language of a sparkling Seeker."

"And she doesn't speak the language of an adult Cybertronian," Ratchet said bluntly. Breakfree squeaked again when she heard the voices of her two of her favorite mechs. She _really_ wanted to be held by Prowl. He had wings, and she wanted to be held by him. However, the pretty light in her hand was attached to Ratchet. Her face screwed up in concentration as she looked from the light to Prowl to the light again, trying in vain to figure out which one she wanted more. She let out a high whine and looked at Ratchet helplessly. How was she supposed to choose? "Decisions are terrible things, aren't they, sparklet?" Ratchet asked out loud. Breakfree whined again before deciding that she wanted Prowl. Her left hand released the light, and both hands were stretched out in Prowl's direction. Her little servos clutched at air as she reached for her desired mech.

"I'll never understand why she likes Prowl so much. He don't even understand how she communicates," Sunstreaker mumbled. Ratchet scowled at the golden mech, but stood and held his sparkling out to the Second in Command. Prowl stared at him, looking pained. Sunstreaker was right when he said that Prowl didn't understand children. However, he knew he wouldn't be able to resist those big purple optics that glittered joyfully the closer the femling got to him.

"Go on. Take her. If you don't, she'll start crying," Ratchet told him bluntly, sounding put off that his sparkling wanted to be held by someone else. Prowl hesitated for only a klik longer before reaching over and lifting the sparkling close to his chassis. Breakfree clicked and chirped happily as she snuggled close to the tactician. Ratchet sat back down and started talking once he did.

"I spoke with Wheeljack and Perceptor a breem ago about toys and cribs. Perceptor is working on building three single-sparkling cribs and one semi-mobile three-sparkling crib. He will also put together special pads for the sparklings to sleep on whenever they aren't near a crib. While he's doing that, Wheeljack is working on making toys. I gave him some pictures of a few human toys for ideas, and he plans to build off of that, as well as implement some old Cybertronian designs to give them a bit more of our culture. I will be working on the low-grade mixture while the sparklings are with their next caregivers."

Ratchet had scarcely finished his sentence when the alarms on ship suddenly sounded. The three sparklings immediately cried out as the loud noises filled the ship. Ratchet shot to his pedes and lifted Breakfree from Prowl's arms. He didn't think twice as his chest plates opened, and he gently placed her in his hold. A second later, Bluewing was being held out to him. Ratchet gave Ironhide an irritable look.

"I have to go fight! I don't want him with me when I'm being shot at!" Ironhide snapped. Ratchet gave a heavy sigh as he grabbed Bluewing and placed him with his leader. He grimaced at the feeling of the mechling tackling the femme in a hug. The two were small enough to fit comfortably, but he fought off a shudder that threatened to move down his spinal strut every time one of their wings brushed his spark chamber. It would definitely take some getting used to.

"Ratchet, take Flamefall, and get to the medbay. Have Jolt put Flamefall in his hold. That is the safest place for them until we have chance to prepare the safety spots," Optimus ordered as Prowl barked orders into his comm. link. Flamefall was placed in the CMO's servos, and Ratchet hugged the mechlet close, effectively hiding him with his hands. Ironhide was the first to leave the room, cannons blazing and optics glowing with the excitement that came with the chance to destroy a few 'Cons. Ratchet was the next out, followed by Prowl, who made a mad dash for the security hub. Sunstreaker and Prime exited last, after Jazz, who was ordered to follow Ratchet and give him and the medbay some cover, just in case. The mechs dashed down different halls, and organized chaos took over the ship as the Autobots worked to find the intruders.

**::Skywarp moving room to room. Be advised::** Prowl droned through the public Autobot comm. link. Ratchet grabbed Jazz's shoulder and held Flamefall out to him.

"Put him in your hold," Ratchet ordered.

"Yo! I ain't–"

"This is a battle, Jazz. Put. Him. In. Your. Hold," Ratchet snarled. Jazz grimaced as he lifted the sparkling up and moved him into his hold.

"Man, this's jus' weird," Jazz claimed as he closed off his hold and started running alongside Ratchet. Flamefall was making his way to the back of the hold, and the mechlet seemed to be having a hard time not panicking, if how much he was shivering was any indication. Jazz frowned and revved his engine lightly. A small squeak rose from his chassis, and Flamefall curled up in his hold. Jazz grinned as they approached the medbay door. Jazz quickly opened the door and took two steps.

"Quickstrike!" a familiar voice snarled. Jazz looked to his right and saw Skywarp aiming a gun at him. "You took them! You slaggin' traitor!"

And Skywarp shot him.

* * *

><p>Yep. i just left y'all hangin' from a cliff. I simply had to have a dramatic moment. Now, I don' wanna see any picthforks or nothin', 'kay? And if yo'r gonna kill meh, give meh a ten sec'nd head start, please. ;)<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

Klik- under a second

Breem- 8.3 minutes

Joor- 6 hours

Orn- 2 weeks

Vorn- 83 years

**::Comm. link::**

_**Sparkling speak.**_

**((Emotions through bonds))**

**/Bond speak/**

**~Seeker language~**

* * *

><p>Disclaimer: I do not own transformers. I do own all the OCs, though, and the plot. Enjoy, folks.<p>

Chapter 7

Ratchet rushed to Jazz's side as Skywarp warped to a different room. Jazz's intakes hitched as he fought off the urge to scream in pain. Every beat of his fuel pump pushed more energon out of the new, unnatural hole in his chest. The saboteur groaned in pain as Ratchet and Jolt lifted him onto a berth.

"Flamefall," Jazz wheezed through the pain. "Ge' Flamefall."

"I am, Jazz," Ratchet replied tersely as he reached into the smaller mech's chest cavity. "Slaggit," he mumbled as he pulled out Flamefall. To say that the mechlet was freaked out would be an understatement. Flamefall wailed and wiggled hysterically in his hands. Breakfree and Bluewing whistled and chirped in worry, and they crawled in Ratchet's hold, trying to calm their wingmate without being close or in optic range. Ratchet ignored all three of them as he handed off the mechlet to his apprentice and focused solely on Jazz, giving him an anesthetic. The medic worked swiftly and precisely, replacing the damaged circuits and closing off the injured energon lines. In truth, the wound looked far worse than it really was, and it probably hurt worse, too, so Ratchet decided to play nice and gave the saboteur some more sedatives. Ratchet stepped back and tried to reel in his terror and worry. He was never this freaked out, not even when he had been trying to save Optimus when the Fallen had stolen the Matrix of Leadership.

Then he realized that that terror, that mind-numbing fear, wasn't his.

It was Breakfree's. He could hear the small whimpers in his chassis, and his spark was screaming with the fear that belonged to his child. Ratchet revved his engine as he wiped his hands and chassis free of energon.

**::Skywarp has fled. Ship returning to level 2 lockdown. All able mechs check all rooms for possible enemies::** Prowl's no-nonsense voice ordered. Ratchet moved to a seat that was situated against the far wall. It was kept there for when one of the twins got hurt. The other one often refused to leave the medbay, so Ratchet had a chair moved in. He sat down in that seat and opened his hold. Breakfree immediately crawled out into his hand, sobbing and terrified of the loud noises. Bluewing, not wanting to be left behind by his leader, followed her out. Breakfree was more than happy to cuddle with him, seeing as she was just as freaked out as he was. The two clicked and squeaked in distress as they clung to each other against Ratchet's chassis.

"Ratchet," Jolt said softly, holding out a distraught Flamefall. The CMO moved his arm and allowed Jolt to settle Flamefall beside Breakfree. The three Seeklets huddled close, seeking the heat of Ratchet's blazing spark. Breakfree desperately reached to him through their bond, and Ratchet gently sent her calm and reassurance.

**/You're fine, sparklet. I'm here. You're safe now/** he promised her softly. Breakfree's little optics offlined as she wailed sadly. A small commotion was heard outside the medbay, and the door slid open. Optimus Prime and Sunstreaker strode inside. Ironhide was being supported by the Prime, his hip and torso sparking slightly, and Sunstreaker was holding Sideswipe. Well, he was dragging Sideswipe, who was currently offline. The red bot's wheeled pedes made the movement easier. His back was melted inwards a little, but it wasn't as life-threatening as it was a pain to repair. Ratchet would have to remove and replace the metal plating on his back, and he'd have to replace any wires that had been short-circuited or attached to the melted metal. It was tedious work, but it could wait. He'd have to deal with Ironhide's injuries first. He'd just put Sideswipe in a medically-induced stasis-lock. The two injured mechs were lifted onto separate berths, and Ratchet slowly got to his pedes. Optimus walked to his side and held out his arms.

"Thanks, Prime," Ratchet said as he dumped the three hatchlings into the leader's arms. Optimus smiled slightly as he held them in his massive arms.

"There, now," he crooned to the hiccupping babies. "It's all over."

"Yeah. We finished it pretty quickly," Sunstreaker stated as he moved to Prime's side. Bluewing looked over at the shiny mech and reached out for him with one hand while he clung to his leader with the other. Breakfree felt her wingmate tugging on her shoulder, and her attention was moved to the golden front-liner. He wasn't Ratchet, but his shiny color made her want to be closer. Optimus looked rather amused as he held out the two hatchlings, seeing as Flamefall was more than happy to stay in his arms next to his blazing spark. Sunstreaker grimaced as he lifted up the two hatchlings and held them to his chassis.

"If they scratch my paint, I'm going to be slagged off," Sunstreaker said bluntly. And a wrench slammed into the side of his helm. Breakfree giggled loudly through her tears as Sunstreaker stumbled sideways a little with them in his arms.

"Don't use that language around my sparkling!" Ratchet snapped before returning his attention to Ironhide's torso. Sunstreaker scowled as he held the two sparklings close. The poor things were definitely freaked out. Bluewing appeared to be the worst, though. Sunstreaker crooned wordlessly at the little mechlet, who was still whimpering. Bluewing looked up at Sunstreaker with coolant brimming his optic band and squeaked pitifully.

"You're fine. _I'm_ holding you," Sunstreaker said in a haughty voice. Bluewing clicked at him, loving the sound of his deep voice. It wasn't as deep as Prime's, but seemed to be in a perfect range. The mechlet reached out with his spark. Sunstreaker blinked at the pulling feeling. He was not new to the feeling. His brother often sent him this tugging feeling when he felt alone or sad. Wait. His brother… This had to be Sideswipe! Sunstreaker didn't hesitate for a klik longer. He opened the bond and sent out his love and reassurance, like any good brother would. However, the type of love he received back was…unexpected.

He was _definitely not_ Sideswipe's _creator_, and it worried the golden 'bot that he was receiving creator/creation love through the bond.

"Uh, Ratchet. I think there's something wrong with my brother's bond," Sunstreaker voiced. Ratchet gave the golden twin his attention. "He's sending me a creation's love."

"Sunstreaker, your brother is in stasis-lock. His bond isn't active," Ratchet said lowly. Sunstreaker stared at Ratchet for a full minute, trying to comprehend what the medic was saying. Slowly, Sunstreaker looked down at the two sparkling's in his hands.

"Are you saying I just…bonded…with one of these two?" Sunstreaker asked hesitantly. Ratchet turned his attention back to Ironhide.

"Not with Breakfree, you didn't. A sparkling can't have two mech creators, and Breakfree is mine," Ratchet said matter-a-factly. Sunstreaker looked horrified. The little spazz-sparkling was bonded to him? Oh, dear Primus. No. No, no, no! Sunstreaker moved to Ratchet's side on wheeled pedes. Breakfree, seeing her mech-creator, whined for his attention.

"Please, Ratchet! Tell me you can reverse this bond!" Sunstreaker pleaded. Ratchet scowled at the golden mech.

"Are you asking me to help you reject your bond with an innocent sparkling?" he snarled, looking personally affronted that the mech would even _consider_ that option.

"Yes! You got Breakfree! I got this little…thing!"

"He's a sparkling!"

"He's defective! Why else would he freak out like that in the rec room? The other two were perfectly fine, if you ignore Breakfree's little scare!"

"How could you say that about a defenseless sparkling?" Ratchet demanded.

"He's actually rather cute when he's not afraid," Ironhide said offhandedly.

"Yeah, but he's afraid ninety-five percent of the time! I don't wanna deal with this!" Sunstreaker snapped. Bluewing looked back and forth between the three angry mechs, feeling nothing but fear and sadness at the emotions rolling through the bond. Rejection. Disgust. Horror. Irritation. The mechling sniffled, trying to soak in the comfort that was pouring from Breakfree's bond. The mechlet let his tears fall from his optic band as he cuddled against his leader, seeking out the love that his mech-creator was apparently not going to give him.

"Oh, good job, Sunshine," Ratchet growled. Sunstreaker's optics brightened in confusion, and he looked down at the sparklings in his arms. "He can feel your emotions. Just what are you broadcasting to him?" Guilt flooded the front-liner as he gazed down at the crying Seeklet. _His_ crying Seeklet. He wasn't ready to be a parent. Ratchet studied the mech for a few more kliks before he sighed.

"Go lay on the berth beside your brother's. I'll deactivate that bond node once I'm done with Ironhide. Bluewing will still try to stick by your side for the next few days, but he'll forget about you soon enough and move on to find a new mech-creator." Ratchet gave the warrior a critical look. "One that will love him for who he is. Don't expect him to ever like you, though. Deactivated bonds tend to leave scars. He won't ever forgive you, even if he doesn't understand why he hates you."

"Wait, you mean he's going to hate me when he grows up?" Sunstreaker asked, looking at the medic.

"Of course. His spark will recognize yours as the one that rejected him. He will naturally avoid you and despise you, even though he won't really know the reason." Ratchet turned his attention back to Ironhide to hide his smirk as he went in for the kill. "He'll also hate Sideswipe, seeing as you two share a spark."

Silence. Ratchet could only imagine how serious his internal debate was. Sunstreaker didn't want a sparkling, and he definitely didn't want one as unpredictable as Bluewing. Unfortunately, he didn't know how Sideswipe would act, and he didn't want him hated by Bluewing, because if Bluewing's spark rejected them, then it was likely the sparks of all three Seeklets would reject them due to the trine bond. Ratchet finally stopped the sparking in Ironhide's torso and moved to his hip.

"Great," Ratchet mumbled. "You stripped the joint again. This will take at least a joor to fix," he groused.

"It ain't my fault," Ironhide said defensively. "It's not like I can control the damage!" Ratchet clubbed him with a wrench.

"If you had come to your ornly examination, I could've kept you from sustaining this damage," he snapped, ignoring Breakfree's giggles. "Now, Sunstreaker, get on that berth. I'll get to you in a breem."

"I'll keep him," Sunstreaker stated before moving to Prime's side. Breakfree whined irritably at the sudden distance between her and her father.

**/I'm still here, sparklet,/** Ratchet reassured her through the bond while he worked. "Jolt, get something to entertain those three and set them on that last berth. Prime and Sunstreaker can play with them until I'm done with Sideswipe, which will probably be in about a joor." Then he grimaced. "Once our lockdown is lifted, take them to the rec room. They need to start getting used to the other mechs. I will be sure to have Prowl or Bumblebee there for Breakfree."

"Yes, sir," Jolt replied as he moved to the many cabinets in search of sparkling-safe medical supplies. At the third cabinet, he came up with a light-weight wrench used for smaller parts and a stack of cleaning cloths. "Here we go, guys," Jolt said as he moved to the only clear berth, where Prime and Sunstreaker were laying down the Seekerlets.

"Don't give her the wrench!" Sunstreaker exclaimed. The junior medic raised an optic ridge as he placed the cloths near the femme's helm. "What? She's the Hatchet's spawn. I bet he's already taught her aim and propulsion," the front-liner said defensively.

"Then we'll give her the cloth. I have to get their bottles put together. You can feed them in the rec room." With that, Jolt walked away, leaving the leader and the sociopath with the three hatchlings. Breakfree was the first to grab one of the cloths, and she held her prize over her head to examine it. She whistled inquisitively as the cloth unfolded in her grasp and squealed when the large majority of it landed on her face. She curled her little body up as she attempted to get the cloth off her face. She shook the edge that was still in her grasp as she kicked at the air, trying in vain to move it. Bluewing, noticing her predicament, valiantly rolled onto his back in an attempt to help her. And got stuck there. His arms flailed, and his pedes kicked as he tried to force his body back onto his stomach. Flamefall, who was on the other side of Breakfree, also noticed her problem and tried his hand at rolling over. A single roll onto his back brought him to Breakfree's side. He gripped the edge of the attacking cloth and lifted it up. Breakfree's purple optics met his, and the femling gave a squeak of delight and thanks. Flamefall smiled and squeaked back happily.

"There's definitely not a dull moment with them," Sunstreaker stated, watching the exchange. Optimus chuckled.

"Very true," he agreed. Flamefall looked up at hearing Prime's voice and giggled at his father. Creation love flowed through the bond as well as a small trace of love for Breakfree and a sense of protectiveness and possessiveness. Breakfree was _his_, and this stupid cloth couldn't keep her. Sunstreaker, however, was getting feelings of mild panic from Bluewing's inability to flip back over, feelings of aggression towards the evil cloth that was currently attacking his leader, and feelings of protective promise. He was _going_ to save Breakfree from that cloth of evilness if it was the _last_ thing he did. Bluewing sent Sunstreaker a helpless look. He couldn't defend Breakfree on his back…

"Well, turn back over. It's not photon science, mech," Sunstreaker stated, sending him assurance and a sense of 'do-it-yourself-because-I'm-not-helping-you'. Bluewing whined and wiggled a little on his back. He chirped irritably at his opiluk. Sunstreaker responded by rolling his optics. "You can do it," the twin claimed. Bluewing twittered to himself as he leaned to the right. His left arm swiped at air as gravity pulled him the rest of the way down. Bluewing gave an excited squeal. He did it! He craned his head around to look at his opiluk and was quite happy with the pride and love flowing from his father's side of the bond.

**::Ship is secure. Lockdown is lifted::** Prowl's voice stated over the public comm. link.

"Finally!" Sunstreaker grumbled, scooping up his sparkling and grabbing a bottle from Jolt in one movement. Prime grinned as he lifted up the other two sparklings, who had moved on to attempting to shove opposite ends of the cloth into their mouths. Jolt removed the cloth and handed Sunstreaker the other two bottles once he had subspaced the first one. The two bottles joined the first one in his subspace, and the two Autobots moved toward the door. Unfortunately, Prime's shoulder blocked Breakfree's view of her father, and she started whimpering. Prime stopped and looked down at her as she tried to lean around him to see Ratchet.

"It's okay, sparklet. You will be back by his side as soon as he is finished with Sideswipe," Prime promised gently. Breakfree whined pitifully as she gave up trying to look at the medic and settled into Prime's arms. The leader smiled gently as he started moving towards the door where Sunstreaker was waiting impatiently for him. Breakfree chirped sadly as she cuddled close to her wingmate. Bluewing sent love from his position in Sunstreaker's arms, but Breakfree refused to be happy. Her mech with the pretty paintjob was gone, even though she could still feel his love and mild frustration. Prime was frowning when he stepped into the rec room. He didn't like having to see a sparkling so sad.

"I was sent here to assist with Breakfree?" a certain tactician said by way of greeting as he moved forward. The change was immediate. Breakfree's little optics lit up bright purple, and the femling gave a delighted squeal as she dove for Prowl's hands. The door-winger gave a wordless exclamation as he lunged forward to catch her. Breakfree giggled cutely as Prowl lifted her to his chassis. She wiggled her winglets at him in greeting and bounced in his hands. "Good joor, Breakfree," Prowl greeted her. She chirped at the sound of his voice. He followed Prime and Sunstreaker to an empty table and took a seat beside the Prime, not wanting to sit beside the bane of his existence. Bottles were passed around, which elicited squeals of excitement from all three sparklings. Any mech that was in the room migrated to their table as the sound of suckling mouths and purring sparklings filled the air, along with the occasional squeak or click of contentment.

"They're so cute," Hound commented from his position behind Sunstreaker's left shoulder.

"Yeah, and Seekers, to boot! No wonder ol' Megsy is sending Screamer and his trine here to look for them," Trailbreaker added from his spot behind Prowl.

"Yeah, but why? Megatron isn't exactly known for his love for sparklings. Why these three? What is he planning?" Mirage asked from his spot across the room. There was silence after his comment as everybot processed the questions.

"What we need is to capture a Decepticon that would know. A scout, or an officer," Cliffjumper said. He was standing with the other mini-bots at the side of the table.

"And Barricade has been seen prowling around lately…" Windcharger added slowly. A squeak rose from the femling, who had finally noticed her crowd around the amazing refueling she had just had. Prowl looked down at her as she snuggled closer to his spark.

"One thing is for sure: we will need an Autobot here that can fly. An Autobot we can trust not to hurt them," Prowl interjected.

"Agreed. I will contact Ultra Magnus and see if he can spare the Aerialbots and perhaps the Protectobots," Optimus promised. A delighted squeal rose from Sunstreaker's arms, and the yellow bot groaned in embarrassed exasperation when he looked down at his "son". Bluewing had discovered his pedes and was now trying to find out if they were edible. A few chuckles rose as the sparkling curled his body in a valiant attempt to get his pedes into his mouth. Prowl glanced at them only for a klik as he pulled out a datapad to plan a meeting with the City Commander, who was currently leading a rather large part of the Autobot army.

Breakfree stared up at the mech that was holding her. He only had one arm around her, and the other held a datapad, having put the bottle down when he was pulling the datapad out of subspace. Why was he paying such close attention to that datapad and not her? The trine leader received a short flash of jealousy towards the device. She wanted Prowl all to herself, yet that stupid pad was distracting him. It wasn't fair! She wanted his attention!

The femling scowled and let out an angry squeak. Prowl glanced down at her. She held his gaze for a few kliks before he looked back at the datapad. Breakfree's cheek plates puffed out in annoyance. Her engine revved, and she released a string of irritated clicks. Prowl looked down at her again, this time with a sigh.

"_What_ is your malfunction?"

_**Squeak!**_

"I do not speak your sparkling language."

_**Click squeak buzz chirp!**_

"I've already told you. I cannot understand you. Until you learn to speak adult Cybertronian, we will not be able to uphold a meaningful conversation." With that, Prowl returned his attention to his datapad. Breakfree let out an angry click. She didn't really understand him, but she knew he kept turning back to that stupid datapad. She huffed as she searched her CPU for the right word. Her language center pulled up the memory of Ratchet claiming her while speaking to Sunstreaker in the medbay.

"Mine!" she squeaked. Prowl froze, as did ever other mech in the room, aside from Bluewing, who was still pursuing his foot-to-mouth mission and Flamefall, who was playing with Prime's large pointer finger. Prowl slowly turned his gaze to the sparkling in his arms. Breakfree, wanting to keep his attention, snuggled into the crook of his arm and reached for the hand holding the datapad.

"What…did you say?" Prowl asked. Breakfree, hearing him speak his gibberish again, met his gaze with her own petulant and jealous gaze.

"Mine!" she repeated, seeing as it had effectively gotten his attention the first time. Prowl stared for a few more minutes before the sparkling was suddenly scooped up from his arms.

"Good job, Breakfree!" Bumblebee praised as he held her above his head. Breakfree squealed happily at the attention. "We gotta tell Hatchet! This'll make his day!" And Bee dashed out of the rec room. Prowl stared after him for a few seconds before turning back to look at Prime. The Autobot leader chuckled.

"Come, Prowl. We need to contact Ultra Magnus. I'm sure one of these mechs can watch Flamefall until we return," he said. Mirage immediately stood and moved to the leader's side.

"I believe that mech would be me, Prime. I have been taking care of him quite a bit lately," the spy offered. Optimus nodded and handed his son over to his subordinate. With a grateful nod, Prime left for the communication room with his Second in Command trailing after him.

Meanwhile, a certain yellow scout was rushing through the _Ark_ towards the medbay. He didn't know that Ratchet had a creator bond with her, but he did know that the medic had been taken with her. Then again, Ratchet was that way with all sparklings. He just seemed to show favoritism toward the femling. Bumblebee grinned as he skidded into the medbay, calling Ratchet's name as he glanced around for him. He finally found him leaning over Sideswipe's back platting.

'What?" the medic asked crabbily.

"She spoke!" he said quickly. Ratchet blinked.

"_What_?" he repeated, sounding vastly less grumpy.

"She spoke! Breakfree, tell Ratchet what you said to Prowl," Bumblebee ordered in a gleeful voice. Breakfree stared at the mech that was holding her, not understanding a word he said. She looked around the room, and her eyes landed on her favorite mech.

"Mine!" she squealed, reaching for the medic. Ratchet grinned, but couldn't lift her up, seeing as his hands were covered in energon and halfway into a mech's back. His pride and praised flowed through the bond.

"Well done, light of my spark," he cheered. Breakfree squealed and whistled joyfully at the feelings floating through her spark. "I have to finish repairing Sideswipe, Bumblebee. Kindly take her back to the rec room."

"Okay, Ratchet," Bumblebee replied, sounding a little disappointed by the medic's attitude.

"I'll be around for her in half a joor. Their bond should be stronger by then. Then I need Sunstreaker in here to check out those bond nodes to make sure the new creator bond isn't messing with his twin bond."

"I'll let him know," Bumblebee promised before he left the medbay. Once the scout was gone, Ratchet smiled brightly. That was _his_ femme that said the first word of all the three hatchlings. _His_ sparkling. He wondered idly if she would be the first to do everything. He shook his head, chuckling. Knowing Breakfree, she probably would.

* * *

><p>Ahahaha! I bet all y'all thought I was gonna put Bluewing with Ironhide! ;) For those who had an idea it was gonna be Sunny, good job! I'm having fun putting together these Seeklets' personalities. I'm kinda in a rut with <em>A Little Burst of Sunlight<em> right now, so I'm focusing on the other three stories right now until my muse comes back from vacation. Well, folks, see ya next update. Review please.


	8. Chapter 8

Klik- under a second

Breem- 8.3 minutes

Joor- 6 hours

Orn- 2 weeks

Vorn- 83 years

**::Comm. link::**

_**Sparkling speak.**_

**((Emotions through bonds))**

**/Bond speak/**

**~Seeker language~**

Disclaimer: I do not own transformers. I do own all the OCs, though, and the plot. Enjoy, folks.

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 8<span>

"Now, why do you want my two gesalt teams?" Ultra Magnus asked for what had to be the tenth time. Prime resisted the urge to bang his helm against the control panel.

"I told you, Magnus. We need the extra firepower. We only have twenty mechs here, and tactically speaking, we are highly susceptible to attack right now!" Optimus repeated, his voice slowly rising in volume. Magnus put his helm in his servos with an irritated vent.

"Yes, we went over that, but we haven't gone over _why_ your more susceptible _now_ than you were an orn ago, when I offered the reinforcements," the City Commander retorted. "Sir," he added in to make it a little less disrespectful.

"An orn ago, Mirage hadn't left for the _Nemesis_. An orn ago, we didn't need the reinforcements. We are no longer where we were an orn ago," Prime stated. "I cannot explain over a line like this; however, if you meet up with us in the Beta-5 star sector, I can explain everything in person, and you can be the judge of whether or not we should have the gesalt teams."

"Very well," Ultra Magnus replied after a long pause. "Til all are one."

"Til all are one," Prime replied, and the screen went black. Optimus sighed as he turned around to face his second. "Well, that went well."

"If you ignore the shouting, cursing, and implied insubordination, then yes, it went very well," Prowl replied flatly. "Thank you, Blaster."

"No prob, mah main mech," the red cassette player said easily. "I think Magnus'll g've us all the gestalt teams we wan' once 'e sees the li'l treasures we found."

"I agree. I believe you and Jazz are next in line to watch the three when they're together," Prime said, trailing off as he looked over at his tactician.

"Jazz's shift will be taken by Bumblebee," Prowl provided. Blaster grinned.

"Coo'. Me an' the bee. It'll be a par-tay," he claimed. Prowl nodded as he turned and left the room. Prime grinned as he watched him leave.

"I believe I need to fill out some datapads before the joor is up, so I will see you in two joors," Prime stated as he moved to the door.

"A'ight, O.P.! See ya!" Blaster called out after him.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, across the ship, three sparklings were entertaining a group of nine mechs without meaning to. Wheeljack had completed the first few toys and had made enough for each Seeklet to have two toys. In Breakfree's hand was a glow-wand. The handle, which was about four inches long, was made of metal and looked much like a wand's handle. The other twelve inches looked much like a fiber-optics fountain. Thin strands of clear, flexible metal flowed from the handle, which activated when held. Colors faded into each other in an ever-changing rainbow, and the strands moved around as easily as a ribbon at the femling's many movements. It was, by far, her favorite toy. By her pedes was a doll. It was made with a soft, colored cloth. The plushie was in the form of a female Seeker with exquisite delta wings and a gentle smile. Blue optics were sewed in, and her armor coloring mirrored Ratchet's chartreuse paint-job, along with white wings with a single black stripe on each one. The doll was loved, but it didn't light up, so it was currently being ignored in favor of the pretty light-up stick.<p>

Bluewing was given a cube made up of twenty-seven cubes lined up by three. The cube had a myriad of different colors. Every color was bright, so that it kept the sparkling's attention, and the rows spun easily, making it more engaging (basically, it's a Rubix Cube). However, it was tossed aside, as the blue-winged sparkling was more concerned with hugging the living daylights out of his new plushie version of his trine leader.

Flamefall was laying on his stomach with his own Breakfree plushie in one arm while the other one arm was rolling a wheeled metal cybercat figurine back and forth. The cat's whole body was made of a soft, yet stiff metal. The tail was made of a soft, flexible metal that moved easily, and the wheels were made of the same material the Autobots' tires were made from.

Most of the surrounding Autobots were unsure which sparkling to watch. Breakfree was waving her glowing wand around wildly, entranced by the colors, while Flamefall shoved the wheeled cat around like there was no tomorrow, and Bluewing snuggled the life out of his plushie, nuzzling his faceplates against it.

"I think you did good, 'Jack," Mirage claimed from his seat by Flamefall.

"It wasn't really hard. I think I can have six more ready pretty soon. I have to finish the three single carriers first, though," the engineer claimed. "Oh!" he said, suddenly remembering something. He pulled three blankets from his subspace.

"I made these right before the attack," Wheeljack said as he distributed the three blankets. The chartreuse one was handed to Bumblebee, who was currently in charge of Breakfree until Ratchet was finished with Sideswipe, the sky blue one was handed to Sunstreaker, and the redish-orange one was handed to Mirage. "They're softer than normal cloths and retain heat better. I made them by mixing together the fibers of a–"

"Whoa, 'Jack!" Cliffjumper interrupted. "We don't need a science lesson." Wheeljack's fins flashed pink in embarrassment. A loud and inquisitive squeak rose from the table, and the mechs looked at Breakfree to see that she had set her wand down and was now staring rather intently at Wheeljack.

"What is it?" he asked, his fins lighting up white with curiosity with every word. Breakfree gave an open-mouthed smile and a delighted chirrup as she reached out for the engineer in a silent request to be picked up. Wheeljack hesitantly obliged. "Hello, there."

"Mine," Breakfree muttered as she reached for the lighting up fins. Wheeljack chuckled.

"Nope, Breakfree. Those are _mine_," he replied, smiling under his facemask. Breakfree whistled, only understanding her name and the word "mine". She twisted around in the scientist's hands and held her arms out to Bumblebee. She was immediately transferred over to the yellow scout. She looked around at the other mechs surrounding the table, looking for anyone else she knew. She knew Mirage and Sunstreaker, and she recognized the Bumblebee-lookalike with the ugly red paintjob. No one else was overly familiar, though. Most of them were really, really short.

"Do you really think we'll be able to get some answers from a captured Decepticon?" one of the short bots wondered out loud.

"Probably not. I ain't like Megatron keeps most of his soldiers in the know-how," another short bot replied.

"Try some positivity, midget-bots. I don't want my sparkling to catch your pessimism," Sunstreaker stated.

"I'll show you midget-bot, you sunflower!" a third bot snapped. Sunstreaker smirked.

"That a threat, or a challenge?" he snarked.

"It's a little bit of both," the second bot snapped.

"Hey!" Hound broke in. "No fighting around the sparklings. We want to keep them away from the violence as much as we can," he chastised. The three bots backed off, and Sunstreaker turned back to the table to see his son looking at him with the strangest expression. His optics brightened of a second before he lifted his one arm that wasn't around the plushie towards his father. Sunstreaker lifted the sparkling up and settled him against his chassis.

**((Love. Curiosity. Love for Breakfree. Curiosity. Exhilaration because of the height. Love for Daddy. Curiosity.))** Sunstreaker rolled his optics as Bluewing looked around at the rec room. Luckily, none of these mechs seemed to intimidate him. He really didn't feel like dealing with a sparkling spazz attack.

**::Sunstreaker, your brother is repaired and should be coming out of stasis soon::** Ratchet's exhausted voice told him over the comm. link. **::I don't know who has Breakfree, but can you bring her with you when you come?::** Sunstreaker checked his internal chronometer and found that the joor was, indeed, almost over. Primus help him. He was going to have to _sleep_ with this little runt? What if it – he – scratched his paint? Sunstreaker shuddered, but stood anyways.

"I'm going to visit my brother. Breakfree and Bumblebee need to come with me. Prime will probably be by to get Flamefall in a few breem," Sunstreaker stated, subspacing Bluewing's block. Bumblebee chirped at Breakfree as he grabbed the wand and the doll. Breakfree squeaked as she reached for the doll, which was immediately handed over to her. The femling cuddled the doll close and stuck one of the soft wing tips into her mouth plates. Bumblebee grinned as he wrapped her up in the chartreuse blanket.

"Let's go visit Jazz," Bumblebee said cheerfully.

"Mine!" Breakfree cheered. She giggled loudly as Bumblebee walked out of the rec room, putting an extra bounce in his step as he walked to amuse the sparkling cradled in his arms. Sunstreaker groaned at the scout's cheery attitude as he sulked after him with a swaddled up Bluewing, who was still cuddling his Breakfree plushie.

* * *

><p>The medbay was empty with the exception of Jazz, Sideswipe, and Ironhide. The general consensus was that Ratchet was in his office, though this belief was not spoken out loud. Bumblebee moved toward the only online mech in the room as Sunstreaker moved to his brother's side. Ironhide grunted as the bright yellow scout stopped beside his berth.<p>

"I brought a small bundle of cheery sparkling attitude to make you feel better," Bumblebee stated none-too-quietly. Breakfree chirped, so that the mechs didn't forget her presence, even though the sound was semi-muffled by the plush wing in her mouth.

"So you brought Ratchet's spawn?" Ironhide questioned gruffly. Bumblebee's optics widened a little, and he looked down at Breakfree in confusion.

"I didn't know she was his sparkling," he commented.

"Well, now you do. The mech formed a creator bond with her," the weapons specialist replied. Breakfree stared at the black mech on the berth before her. His paint was a really, really dark color. She squeaked and pulled the wing from her mouth as she looked back at Bumblebee's chassis, then back at the black mech, comparing the paintjobs. Bumblebee's was prettier.

"Where _is_ Ratchet?" Sunstreaker said from his position across the room.

"He's putting up a play pen. Getting ready for when the three runts are mobile." A wrench soared across the room and pegged Ironhide in the head with startling accuracy.

"Don't call my sparkling a runt," the wrench's owner snarled as he moved to Bumblebee's side. Breakfree squealed when she heard the familiar voice.

"Mine!" she called out. "Mine, mine, miiiiiiiine!"

"Hello, my little sparklet!" Ratchet greeted as he lifted the little femme out of Bee's servos. Breakfree squealed joyfully as she settled into the CMO's arms. Love and contentment flowed from the bond freely, with a small hint of weariness from the creator's side. Bumblebee smiled as he watched the two, then he finally focused on Ratchet as the medic started checking Ironhide's injuries with one hand while holding Breakfree with the other.

"So, you're already setting up a playpen? Doesn't it take a few orns for a sparkling to learn to crawl?" Bee asked.

"Normal sparklings, yes. Seeklets learn to crawl and walk at a ridiculously fast rate. Their limbs are already developed enough to support their weight, and all their development is mainly in their wings. That's why a Seeker's sparking period is much longer than any other femme's: the sparkling has to develop more. It's flying that will take the longest for them to learn, and that won't be about until their third upgrade, though they'll need to be taken on flights, just like every other Seeker."

"So, the rumors about flightless Seekers going insane are true?" Sunstreaker asked from two berths down.

"Yes, so we need to get some flight-capable Autobots here soon," Ratchet replied as he turned around to face Jazz.

"Su-nny?" a weak voice rasped. The yellow front-liner snapped to attention and wheeled closer to his brother's helm. The red twin was still lying on his front. His back plating was gone, exposing the brand new circuitry inside, and his head was turned to the side, dim optics searching for his brother. Sunstreaker crouched down so that they were optic-to-optic.

"Hey, Sides," he said. His voice held a gentleness that no other bot aside from Sideswipe and Bumblebee had ever experienced from him. "How're ya feeling?"

"Like…Prime ran…over me," he muttered. A small squeak rose from Sunstreaker's arms but was ignored by the golden front-liner. The red twin, however, couldn't ignore the feelings of love and curiosity floating into his spark. "Sun-ny… I'm not… your… crea… tor," Sideswipe informed him.

"Oh. That's not me," Sunstreaker said hesitantly. He sent a flood of love and care through the twin bond so that his brother could distinguish between the two bonds. "Congratulations, Sideswipe. We have a son."

Silence. Sideswipe's optics dimmed a little as he thought it through.

"Su-nny… I don't… like you tha… way," the red front-liner slurred. Sunstreaker winced as Ratchet broke into laughter across the room. Ironhide's loud guffaws could be heard from the berth on the other side of Jazz, who would very likely be laughing along with the other two, were he online. He'd probably store the moment away for blackmailing purposes, too.

"Good," Sunstreaker replied, trying to save the situation. "Because I don't like you like that, either. One of the Seeklets bonded to me and by extension, to you."

More silence. Bluewing, deciding he wanted his other creator to know he was there, whistled happily at the red mech. Sunstreaker rolled his optics as he moved Bluewing into Sideswipe's line-of-sight. The red mech stared through dim optics.

"Isn't he… the spazzy one?" he murmured.

"Yup," Sunstreaker replied flatly. There was another beat of silence broken only by Bluewing's inquisitive squeaks and chirps. "Hey, Hatchet! How long until Sides can leave?" Sunstreaker suddenly called out, earning a surprised squeak from his sparkling.

"Three joors. His systems need to rest, and I want to keep an optic on him for any infections," Ratchet stated as he walked to the front-liner's berth. Breakfree whistled to her wingmate, who chirped in response. She reached out with her spark to the other wingmate. Flamefall sent her back feelings of contentment and love. He was with his creator, but he didn't mind forwarding some of Prime's love to her. She twittered as she turned her attention to the bond with her new creator. The CMO was very obviously stressed and irritated. Breakfree whistled up at him, patting his chassis.

"Mine?" she asked. Ratchet smiled, glancing down at her, but ignored her as he checked over Sideswipe's new circuitry.

"I'm your opiluk, sweetspark. Can you say 'opi'?" Ratchet asked her as he looked at Sideswipe's repairs.

"Mine."

"No. Opi," Ratchet corrected.

"Hatchet, I don't think she's gonna learn a new word at the moment," Sunstreaker stated. Ratchet glared at him. Breakfree looked at Sunstreaker, then back at her father.

"Mine!" she chirped joyfully at the medic. Ratchet rolled his optics as his pointer digit transformed into a needle. Breakfree studied the needle carefully as her father administered the sedative into the fallen warrior's arm. She cocked her head as the finger transformed back into a finger. She looked down at her own fingers in question. Hers didn't turn into needles. He had done the same thing with the light earlier. How strange! She chirped at Ratchet, sending him curiosity and wonder through the bond as she examined her digits. She received amusement in return. She giggled at the feeling.

"Sunstreaker, I would suggest you either get him settled for a nap in here, or leave. I'm not needed here, so I am going to get a cube of energon," Ratchet stated. "When I come back, everything had _better_ be where I left it, compute?"

"Please," Sunstreaker scoffed. "I'm not my brother."

"Yeah. Right," Ratchet said flatly as he left the bay, Bumblebee trailing after him. Jolt walked in and sent Sunstreaker an exasperated look. The junior medic _really_ didn't feel like dealing with the sociopath. Luckily for him, Sunstreaker stood and left the bay without a word. Jolt was about to comment when he decided not to worry about it. Silence was golden.

"Jolt! My hip's bleeding!" Ironhide complained. Jolt gave a heavy sigh. So much for silence.

* * *

><p>There ya go, mechs and femmes! I'm heading out to cheer camp in a week, so my goal (once again) is to get one more chapter out for my Ratchetoc story and my Optimus/OC story (I'm gonna get that stupid chapter finished, so help me Primus!) I probably won't get anything done, story-wise next week, because there will be twenty-four girls from our school at camp, ten of them junior high, and I'm in charge of ALL of them (Insert cheer of sarcastic joy) so Transformers will be the last thing on my mind. Plus, I really need to start my Summer Reading homework, because that's due in, like, three weeks (And what sucks is that I don't have an excuse, seeing as we received the assignment two months ago) So I will pretty much have no time. I fear to look at my iTouch when I finally get back into an area of Texas that has Wifi. I'll probably have a million e-mails from fanfic. But that's still a week away. So my new challenge starts... now!

Review, folks!


	9. Chapter 9

Klik- under a second

Breem- 8.3 minutes

Joor- 6 hours

Orn- 2 weeks

Vorn- 83 years

**::Comm. link::**

_**Sparkling speak.**_

**((Emotions through bonds))**

**/Bond speak/**

**~Seeker language~**

Disclaimer: I do not own transformers. I do own all the OCs, though, and the plot. Enjoy, folks.

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 9<span>

Sunstreaker stared at the sparkling, honestly surprised by how peaceful the thing looked. His processor replayed the little mech's spazz attack while being introduced to the crew of the _Ark_ and found that it didn't match up with the child passed out on the berth currently occupied by his injured twin. Bluewing's arms were still wrapped around the doll, and a single digit was comfortably fitting into his small mouth. The little body, though curled around the light-weight doll that was nearly his exact height, was cuddled up to his red mech-creator. Feelings of wonder and joy flowed freely through the bond as Bluewing dreamed. The mechling had only been sleeping for a breem when Sunstreaker had pulled the datapad and stylus out of his subspace. Now, he was going back and forth between sketching his brother and sparkling and staring at the two in love and wonder.

"You're probably not going to want to be here when Ratchet gets back," Jolt's voice said abruptly from his spot by Jazz's berth. The golden mech rolled his optics. He had only followed Ratchet out of the medbay for a breem before he had returned, unable to separate from his twin for long, seeing as they had been separated for a vorn before meeting back up on Earth. He'd brave the Hatchet's wrath. It wasn't like the medic was going to cause him serious harm, especially with that femling nearby. So Sunstreaker ignored the junior medic and went back to his sketch. He'd be in there a lot, so it'd be best for the Hatchet to go ahead and get used to his company. It would make him release Sideswipe all the faster. After all, he couldn't raise the little monster by himself.

* * *

><p>"This was how life was supposed to be," Ratchet decided, looking across the table to his long-time best friend, Wheeljack. "Lounged back in a comfortable chair… Well, as comfortable as we're gonna get right now… A cube of high grade in my servo, and an adorable femme sparkling over my spark, dreaming about happy things."<p>

"Yep. Now ya just need a sparkmate to go with that sparkling," Wheeljack claimed, grinning behind the mask. His friend had become rather docile ever since he had formed the bond with Breakfree, something that the whole crew was happy for. Well, not the bond. The good majority of the mechs aboard had wanted to form said bond with her. Ratchet's docility was something that was greatly appreciated, though.

"Find me a beautiful femme that won't mind taking in Breakfree, doesn't mind me living in the medbay fifty percent of the time, _and_ can deal with my temper, and I'll _beg_ her to bond," Ratchet bargained. Wheeljack grinned. There were a few femmes aboard Ultra Magnus's ship. Maybe he could find said femme.

"You look comfortable, Ratchet," a baritone voice chuckled as a tall mech claimed the seat beside the medic. The table's two occupants smiled over at their commander. His arms were supporting an orange-winged mechling. Flamefall had his arms wrapped around his doll, and his mouthplates were open as he snored lightly. His wings wiggled in his sleep.

"I am, Prime. You seem to be getting rather comfortable yourself," Ratchet commented.

"We will have flight-capable Autobots here soon. I sent out a strike team to search for a Decepticon to capture and question. All things considered, it's been a very productive joor," Optimus claimed. Firefall clicked in his sleep, and his whole body twitched before snuggling closer to Prime's spark.

"Quite the active sleeper," Ratchet commented.

"Indeed. Everytime he does that, it sets off my motion sensors and activates waking protocols."

"At least they're sleeping through the joor, especially with all the naps they take during the cycle," Wheeljack interjected.

"I concur," Ratchet claimed.

"Mine…" Breakfree murmured as she curled up. Ratchet grinned at her and resituated her over his spark.

"It's nice that they have a stable creator bond. Well, Flamefall doesn't," Ratchet commented.

"Bluewing bonded?" Wheeljack questioned.

"Yes. To Sunstreaker and Sideswipe." Wheeljack grinned at Ratchet's answer.

"That'll make for an interesting life."

"Indeed. We just need to find a proper mech-creator for Flamefall."

"That won't be necessary, Ratchet. He bonded with me the first time I held him." Silence followed Prime's statement. All optics were on the Autobot commander. Ratchet was the first to speak.

"You mean to tell me, you were bonded to Flamefall, and you didn't come to get your bond node with Elita checked?"

"I can still sense Elita-One, and I can sense that she is feeling quite relaxed at the moment. My bond node is perfectly fine," Optimus retorted. Ratchet scowled at the mech. He was about to tell him off when Blaster's voice came over the officer's comm. frequency.

**::Blaster here. Y'all might wanna see this. Screamer's on screen, and 'e's pretty pissed.::**

**::Acknowledged. I will be there in a moment,::** Optimus replied. As Optimus stood, his chest plates opened. He allowed his hold door to slide open, and he gently placed his sleeping sparkling in the hold, scooting the child back to rest by his strong spark. The door closed, hiding the sparkling and his plushie, and Prime's chest plates closed after that, further shielding the sleeping child with the thick armor. Ratchet frowned as he stood. He followed Prime out the rec room door, opening his own chassis as he moved. He placed Breakfree in his hold, ignoring the looks he was getting from passing mechs, and allowed his chest plates to hide her just before they walked into the communication room. Prowl was already waiting for them. Because both Jazz and Ironhide were down for the count, Ratchet was the acting TiC, not something he enjoyed.

"Put him onscreen," Optimus ordered. A few seconds later, the large screen was filled with the Command Trine. All three Seekers wore dark scowls. Their posture was rigid, and their wings were held up stiffly, a testament to their inner ire.

"Optimus Prime," Starscream greeted, his voice dripping with acid.

"Starscream. To what do I owe this unexpected call?" Prime replied evenly.

"Cut the slag, Optimus. You have our sparklings, and we want them back," Starscream snapped.

"I can't do that, Starscream," Optimus said simply.

"You cannot hope to raise them properly," Thundercracker broke in, his large arms crossing over his broad chest. "Seekers are not like other sparklings. They are not like normal flier sparklings. A groundpounder cannot raise them without meeting multiple difficulties, which is why you should return them for their own sake."

"We have aerial Autobots," Prowl stated.

"Your fliers are not Seekers. Your Aerialbots will not be able to cope with the problems raising a Seeklet will present. Only a Seeker can properly raise a Seeklet," Starscream hissed.

"Problems like what?" Prowl questioned.

"A Seeker's initiation. A Seeker's invitation into society. How to stabilize a trine bond after their first flight. How to stay sane when their in an enclosed space after their first flight. A groundpounder cannot raise a Seeker."

"I see," Prime replied idly. "We cannot separate from the sparklings, as they have already formed bonds with some of my mechs." He couldn't continue. Angry revs filled the link. An outraged roar rose from the Command Trine, and Optimus was suddenly glad that they weren't able to reach him at the moment.

"You slagger! How _dare_ you!" Starscream roared at the same moment Thundercracker yelled, "You fool! What were you processing?" Skywarp wasn't there, because Skywarp was too busy teleporting to the _Ark_'s communication room. A flash of purple sent the Autobots into a frenzy. A large black blur rushed at the prime, only to be tackled by Prowl.

"Slagger! You had no right!" the teleporter snarled as he wrestled with the tactician.

"We had every right! Who are you to choose who they belong to?" Prowl snapped.

"Enough!" The voice came from the screen, and Skywarp tossed Prowl off him and warped back to his leader's side in compliance to an unspoken command. Optimus didn't miss the promise of pain in the black jet's optics. "I see we have reached an impasse, Prime. You will not give us the sparklings, and we will not rest until we have them."

"This is troubling indeed," Optimus agreed calmly.

"Perhaps we can make a compromise of sorts. Something that is agreeable to both parties," Starscream continued, looking like much like he had when he had still been the prince of Vos.

"I believe it would be wise. The Seeklets apparently need your influence in their raising, yet they will need the mechs they have bonded with as well."

"Then perhaps we should meet up. I am not comfortable speaking over a link like this. I will send you the coordinates for our meeting and the time. I would suggest you not be late." And he disconnected.

"It's a trap," Prowl said without missing a beat. Optimus looked over at his trusted SiC.

"I know, but he has a valid point, one that we should look into. Seeker society is astronomically different than the society we were raised in. We wouldn't know the first thing about raising them."

"I didn' ev'n know half the slag they was talkin' 'bout," Blaster interjected for good measure.

"Yes. We will attend, but we will bring half of the crew. The other half will stay here and will remain on high alert, expecting an attack," Optimus stated.

"Yes, sir! I will split up the rosters." With that, Prowl shuffled away to lock himself in his office. Prime was about to do the same when the feeling of movement in his hold grabbed his attention. Optimus smiled as he opened his chassis.

"Whoa, mech. Tha's jus' weird!" Blaster exclaimed, as Prime pulled the mechlet from his chassis.

"It is no different than your cassettes resting in your cassette rack," Ratchet claimed.

"It don' look weird when I do it, 'cuz I do it wit' _style_," Blaster stated.

"Primus help me," Ratchet mumbled as he rolled his optics skyward. He turned to the door and left the room. He wanted to get back to that cube of high grade. Prime smiled as he left the room and headed to his office. Flamefall whistled from where he was settled over Prime's spark.

"Hello, my little mech," Prime cooed. Flamefall chirped at the sound of his father's voice. Prime let out a low warble and a few chirps of his own to keep the sparkling's attention and was rewarded with a delighted whistle followed by a string of chirps and clicks. Prime didn't notice that every mech that passed him paused to watch their commander interact with the child, and he completely missed the amused smirks and smiles he received from his subordinates. He was too focused on his sparkling. He couldn't wait for Elita to see him.

Flamefall, for his part, really wasn't thinking any specific thought. He was too entranced by the passing doors and how far from the ground he was. He bounced in his opi's servos and wiggled his wings, trying to see if he could stay this height without his opiluk's help. Sadly, he wasn't going anywhere. Opi kept a pretty firm grip on him. Not that he minded, really. He felt safe there. Opi was safety. Flamefall twittered at Opi, who chuckled at him, a low rumbling sound that warmed his little developing spark.

"I believe you are supposed to be in recharge, sparklet," Prime murmured. Flamefall, not understanding a word Opi had said, only whistled in joy over hearing his creator's voice speaking to him. White optics met with blue, and Flamefall chirped at him, basking in his father's love.

**::Blaster t' Prime. Yo'r co'rdinates are in. Ya got two breems ta get there.::**

**::This is Prime. Message received and acknowledged. I'm taking Flamefall to Ratchet for now.::**

**::Gotcha, Prime. Ova an' out.::**

"Come, sparklet," Prime murmured as he changed direction. "You get to stay with Ratchet and Breakfree." Flamefall squealed. "I can't help but worry about you. You shouldn't be this happy to visit Ratchet the Hatchet."

"Bah!" Flamefall exclaimed joyfully.

"Of course. Your leader is there," Prime said. He should've known that.

"Grahbuh!" Flamefall cheered. Prime rolled his optics as he moved into the medbay.

"Ratchet, I require your sparkling-sitting skills," Prime claimed as he moved his gaze over his fallen warriors. "Starscream has sent his coordinates." Sunstreaker looked up from his station beside his brother.

"Ratchet's not here. Jolt is in his office," Sunstreaker stated.

"I can watch the little mech," Ironhide offered. Sunstreaker snorted.

"Bumblebee's on his way here. He'll be able to watch him," the front-liner claimed.

"Slagger! I can watch one sparkling! I'll have you know I raised Bumblebee almost completely by myself!" Ironhide snapped.

"If you wake up my sparkling, so help me Primus, I will slag you," Sunstreaker threatened, his optics flashing. "And I meant that you wouldn't be able to watch a sparkling while you are unable to move."

"Bah!"

"See? Flamefall agrees."

"Primus help me," Optimus mumbled. He handed his sparkling over to Ironhide, who was sitting up on his berth. The old mech's face plates softened as he gazed down at the bubbly sparkling in his lap. "Keep a close optic on him. He tried to jump from my hands earlier. I think he's attempting to fly."

"I will, Prime," Ironhide said seriously. Prime nodded and sent his sparkling a burst of love before walking from the room. Flamefall frowned at the sudden disappearance of his opi. He looked up at the black mech holding him.

"…bah."

* * *

><p>It felt like the chapter wasn't over... Strange. Imma try to have <em>A Rough Road to Recovery<em> updated tomorrow, assuming there is no homework. I'll probably have physics and speech, so no promises. Hope all y'all liked my updating spree, and for those who like _A Little Burst of Sunlight_, read my new one-shot, co-written with Leonixon.

REVIEW! ^o^


	10. Chapter 10

Klik- under a second

Breem- 8.3 minutes

Joor- 6 hours

Orn- 2 weeks

Vorn- 83 years

**::Comm. link::**

_**Sparkling speak.**_

**((Emotions through bonds))**

**/Bond speak/**

**~Seeker language~**

Disclaimer: I do not own transformers. I do own all the OCs, though, and the plot. Enjoy, folks.

Chapter 10

Breakfree giggled joyfully as her mech tickled her abdominal platings. At the moment, the Chief Medical Officer was headed to the medbay, where Bumblebee and Jolt were expected to be. Blaster would join them once he was off-duty, but until then, the two younglings would be watching them while Ratchet was away with Prime and thirty-eight percent of the crew. Ratchet had spent quite a bit of time preparing datapacks for the junior medic, just in case something were to go wrong. The door to the medbay hissed opened, and Ratchet wasn't surprised that Prime was no longer there.

"Bah bah bah bah bah…" Flamefall mumbled from his spot on Ironhide's lap. The Prime's sparkling was talking to his little Breakfree plushie, which was situated on his lap. The doll didn't reply, but that didn't dampen the Seeklet's mood at all. If anything, it made him talk even more. Ratchet grinned lightly as he moved toward his office, where Jolt was currently taking refuge. He had to pause when he passed Ironhide's berth, though, because Flamefall finally noticed his giggling leader. "Bah!" he exclaimed. Breakfree turned her gaze away from her opiluk to look at her trinemate. Her optics lit up happily.

"Miiiiine!" she squealed. A tired, yet inquisitive squeak rose from across the room, followed by a muttered curse by Sunstreaker. Ratchet didn't even look as he chunked the wrench from his subspace. There was a loud "Ow, slaggin' medic!" followed by Breakfree's mad laughter.

"Don't cuss around my sparkling!" Ratchet snarled.

"Your sparkling woke mine up!" Sunstreaker snapped.

"Does he look upset by this fact?" Ratchet asked sarcastically. Sunstreaker looked down at Bluewing. The mechling was raised up on servos and knees, looking over his red opiluk's frame to see his leader. His winglets twitched a little, but he was otherwise silent, the sole focus of his attention being his leader. Sunstreaker prodded their bond lightly and was rewarded with a creation's love. Bluewing dropped to his stomach and rolled onto his back to look at the golden warrior. He gave a single chirp, causing Sunstreaker to smile.

"Good joor, sparklet," he greeted, lifting the Seeklet into his servos. Bluewing's winglets wiggled, and he twittered as he kicked his pedes as he was held in the air by his golden opiluk. He gave a mad giggle, and Sunstreaker rolled his optics. "You get excited too easily," he claimed. Bluewing squeaked as he heard his father's voice deep voice. He loved his father. The medbay door suddenly hissed open, completely grabbing Breakfree's attention, and a certain yellow scout trotted into the bay.

"Bumblebee, reporting for duty," he chirped as he stopped in front of Ratchet. He gave the medic a lazy salute he had seen Jazz give once. Ratchet, for his part, looked irritated at the gesture.

"I already have plenty of disrespectful bots on this ship. I don't need another," he snapped irritably. Then again, any bot would be irritably if they were giving their sparkling over to a babysitter after only being with the child for a few joors. The medic carefully set the Seeklet into the scout's servos and looked Bumblebee straight in the optics. "She receives one bottle of med-grade in two breems. She needs to take her nap after that. I have set up a playpen in my office, and a few of her new toys are in there. Keep a close optic on her. I will have my comm. active at all times if there are any problems."

"Yes, sir. I will take good care of her," Bumblebee promised. Ratchet nodded crisply once, a bit hesitant to trust his hatchling's safety with a youngling.

**::Ratchet, we are leaving.::** The comm. from Prime pulled Ratchet from his thoughts, and he grimaced as he walked away. He stepped outside and was not three paces away when he heard it.

She was crying. No, she was wailing, panic surging her side of the bond. He was gone. Why was he gone? He had _just_ been there! Did the door eat him? The door _ate_ him! She gave another wail and whistled in distress. She wanted her opiluk back! However, she only received a rush of love, followed by a silent apology. Her creator was apparently not eaten, but he was still leaving.

"Sh, sh, sh," Bumblebee murmured. He clicked comfortingly at her, but to no avail. A small, curious click rose from the mechling on Ironhide's lap, and Bumblebee looked over to see coolant gathering in Flamefall's optics. Ironhide followed Bee's terrified gaze and felt the first curlings of panic in his spark.

"Oh, no. No, no, no, no," he muttered, then, to his complete horror, Flamefall began to wail as loudly as his leader. "No, no, sparklet. It's okay. Hush, now," Ironhide murmured as he lifted Flamefall over his spark.

"Fraggit!" Sunstreaker suddenly yelled. Seconds later, Bluewing was bawling like his trine mates. The yellow mech scooped up the blue-winged Seeklet and pressed him close to his chassis.

"Wha's wrong?" Sideswipe slurred, his optics dimly lit.

"Nothing, Sideswipe. These three are just a bit moody," Jolt stated as he moved to the downed front-liner's side. "How are you feeling? Any pain?"

"No… Just tired," Sideswipe murmured. "Wha's the probl'm?"

"Ratchet had to go on a mission with Prime. Breakfree, who bonded with him, started crying when he left. Of course, that caused Bluewing and Flamefall to join in, so now we have three screaming sparklings." Jolt's explanation ended with a frustrated huff of air. The junior medic had officially decided that he was never going to have sparklings. Tracks was right. They really _were_ little monsters.

"That sucks," the red mech remarked, and he dropped back into recharge.

"Well, he was helpful," Ironhide muttered from across the bay. Flamefall, hearing and feeling the mech's deep voice, paused in his crying to look up at the faceplates of the black mech holding him.

"Bah?" he squeaked sadly.

"Sure, kid," Ironhide grumbled. Flamefall's intakes hitched, and he burrowed his helm into Ironhide's chassis.

"Bah mah grahbuh-guh," Flamefall chattered mournfully. His tears were stopping as his attention moved on to explaining his woes to Ironhide in what was apparently great detail.

"One down," Ironhide said cheerfully.

"Two to go," Sunstreaker grumped. He rubbed Bluewing's helm as the hatchling sobbed, trying in vain to calm the little bot down. "It's okay, Bluewing. No need to cry." Bluewing ignored him, keeping up his tears.

"Breakfree, sweetspark, he'll be back," Bumblebee cooed as he bounced the sparkling in his servos.

"Miiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnne," she wailed, twisting her body around to reach for the door. He little wings wiggled, and Bumblebee let out a wordless exclamation when she pushed away from his chassis. He tightened his grip on her, trying to keep her from launching herself from his arms.

"Breakfree, stay still," he ordered gently. All mechs looked up at the door when it hissed open, praying desperately that it was Ratchet coming back. Their optics dimmed in unison when the red form of Blaster stepped in.

"Primus, mechs," he exclaimed. "Wha'd ya all do t' 'em?"

"Ratchet left, which made Breakfree cry, which made Bluewing cry," Bumblebee explained shortly.

"Got'cha. So if we calm down li'l Breakfree here, Blue'll calm down, too?" Blaster questioned, moving toward the femling.

"Unknown," Jolt replied. Breakfree, seeing that the strange red mech was walking toward her, turned back toward Bumblebee and burrowed her helm into his chassis. Blaster grinned as he stopped in front of the smaller scout.

"Breakfree," he crooned in his smooth voice. Breakfree squeaked and cuddled closer to Bumblebee, letting out another spark-wrenching sob. "Aww, c'me on, babyspark. Don' be like tha'."

"I don't think just talking to her is going to work," Jolt said flatly. Blaster looked up from Breakfree for a second, a contemplative look on his face, before his smile returned.

"_If I could, I would tell you why the first time I saw her, I could touch the sky."_

Breakfree froze when she heard Blaster's voice singing gently in an unknown language. The words melded together, flowing easily into each other with perfect fluidity. Across the room, Bluewing went quiet, only giving a curious squeak as he listened to the tape deck sing.

"_I turned to stone, and I could not breathe... She had the ability to make me weak."_

Breakfree cocked her head and squeaked, reaching out one servo to the red mech with the pretty voice. Blaster easily lifted Breakfree into his arms as he continued the song.

"_Always wishing. Always hoping that you'd get the message from the bottom of my spark. Let's together… share forever. It's just a matter of time."_

Blaster didn't miss the looks of awe on the other mechs' faceplates. To Blaster, this was nothing new. He had, after all, raised four other sparklings, all of which had their own little tantrums. He had found that music could calm each of them. A glance over at Sunstreaker proved that Bluewing was beginning to fall into stasis. Flamefall appeared to be headed in the same direction. Breakfree, however, was silently listening, complete and utter awe in her optics. As he sat on an empty berth, Blaster continued singing the song by the human designated Michael W. Smith about the first time he saw his sparkling. The mechs around him relaxed, suddenly happy the tape deck was able to come and save them.

Optimus was _not_ looking forward to this meeting. He was completely certain it was going to be rather stressful, and by the looks on the faces of the three Seekers before him, the Decepticon Command Trine was _not_ going to make this easy for him. Still, Optimus stepped forward, Prowl and Ratchet moving with him. The meeting was taking place on a close-by and completely deserted planet. The ground was covered in a navy-colored dust, and it stuck to his pedes like he was magnetized. Starscream, Thundercracker, and Skywarp were standing a few feet away, each holding an expression that was a mix of anger and pain.

"Starscream," Optimus greeted in a grim tone.

"Prime," Starscream replied. "It's nice to see that you showed up, though the reinforcements are rather needless. I said I came to talk, and that is all I plan on doing."

"I apologize for my lack of trust, but it has been my past experience that luck favors the prepared."

"Touché," Starscream mumbled. His optics hardened as he got to the point. "You know why we are here. Our sparklings need Seeker influence in their lives."

"Yes, but they need their bonded creators, too," Ratchet interjected.

"So we have two choices: either your bonded mechs come to live with us, or we stay with you," Thundercracker claimed. Prowl twitched, Ratchet scowled, and Prime frowned.

"I don't think that will work, either way," Optimus stated slowly. Starscream glowered at the leader.

"Are you saying that we shouldn't be allowed to raise them? Are you insinuating that you can raise them as Seekers better then we can?" Starscream snapped.

"No, but I do not think my men would enjoy your company," Prime replied smoothly, keeping his temper in check.

"Then I suppose three of your mechs are coming with us, then!" Starscream hissed.

**::Prime, I have a suggestion.::**

**::Go ahead, Prowl.::**

**::What if we brought them back to the Ark? I believe they will behave for the sake of the Seeklets. Keep their interaction with other Autobots to a minimum, and we may be able to maintain peace.::**

**::Hmm… What success rates are your battle computer and logic centers giving you?::**

**::78.62893 percent success rate. If you add in the factor of Seekers dealing with Seeklets, and it rises to 92.28301 percent.::**

**::Very well.::**

"I have made a decision," Prime announced suddenly, cutting off a heated discussion between Ratchet and Starscream that he had completely missed. All attention turned to the Autobot leader.

"And _what_ is your decision, noble leader," Starscream spat, earning a scowl from the surrounding Autobots.

"You and your trine will come with us to stay on the Ark. Your interactions with the Autobot soldiers will be limited to your trips to the rec room to refuel, the times when you are changing sparkling caregivers, and when your presence is requested by officers. You're weapons will be disarmed, and your targeting system offlined. Any fights you cause will land you in the brig, and you will not be allowed any time with the sparklings for two orns for every occurrence. Do you, Trine Leader Starscream, accept these terms?" Optimus held out a hand to the Seeker before him. Starscream scowled down at the hand as he considered his options. Finally, he took the proffered hand.

"I, Trine Leader Starscream, accept these terms."

"Very good," Optimus said with a grin. That grin fell when his comm. pinged.

**::Optimus, we've got good news and bad news. The good news is we found Barricade. The bad news is he's destroying his cell in the brig.:: -Hound**

**::We've got more bad news, Prime. Megatron didn't know about the sparklings before, but Barricade knows now.:: -Mirage**

This joor just got _better_ and _better, _Prime thought dismally.

**::Acknowledged,::** Prime replied, trying to keep the sigh out of his voice. **::I am heading back with Starscream, Skywarp, and Thundercracker right now.::**

**::Oh! They surrendered? Do I get to shoot them with my cannons?:: -Ironhide**

**::If those cannons online, even for a klik, I will disassemble them and weld them into an energon dispenser!:: -Ratchet**

**::**_**Ratchet**_**! Kindly desist from threatening your patients until you are no longer on the public comm. line.:: -Prime**

**::Yes, sir.:: -Ratchet **

Optimus groaned. The CMO sounded _hurt_ by the mere _suggestion_ of not publicly yelling at Ironhide. He wondered vaguely if this was how the femmes at the Youth Sectors felt when they were caring for the sparklings after their morning cube of energon.

"Starscream, if you will accompany us back to our transport ships, we will take you to the Ark, where you can refuel and receive medical attention," Optimus stated.

"I wish to see our sparklings first thing," Starscream retorted haughtily.

"Maintenance first, then you may see them," Optimus replied in a voice that brooked no argument. Starscream simply nodded curtly and motioned with his helm for his two trine mates to follow him. As one, the Autobots and the three Seekers made their way back to the transport ships, more than ready to return to the Ark and the three bundles of joy the ship currently housed.

OMG! Lunar Mist updated something other than _Through a Cybercat's Optics!_SHOCK! I must rant for a second. FANFIC IS SO ANNOYING! IT WOULDN'T BRING UP THE LITTLE LINE-BREAK BUTTON SO I HAD TO USE FRAGGIN' HYPHENS! GRAGH!

Okay. I'm calm now. I do not own _"Just a Matter of Time"_by Micheal W. Smith, and I do not own Micheal W. Smith. I own the situation of Blaster singing it, though. Somehow, him crooning out Micheal W. Smith is just... *melts into a puddle* I imagine Blaster having Jamie Foxx's voice. (If you don't know who that is, then I can say that he has recently been famous for being Nico (the yellow bird) in the movie _Rio_ (which I also do not own))

Yeah. Reviews are amazing! So please place some. Even if they're anonymous! XD Y'all will _love_ the next chapter. Here's a hint: Sunstreaker meets up with the Trine, and Bluewing officially learns his first word. Basically, it's a chapter filled to the brim with Sunny-torture. :)


	11. Chapter 11

Klik- under a second

Breem- 8.3 minutes

Joor- 6 hours

Orn- 2 weeks

Vorn- 83 years

**::Comm. link::**

_**Sparkling speak.**_

**((Emotions through bonds))**

**/Bond speak/**

**~Seeker language~**

Disclaimer: I do not own transformers. I do own all the OCs, though, and the plot. Enjoy, folks.

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><p><span>Chapter 11<span>

Blaster grinned as he watched Breakfree sleep. After singing two more songs, she had curled up and fallen asleep. Now, she was wiggling her wings and clicking in her sleep.

"They're really cute," Bumblebee murmured as he leaned over Ironhide to study Flamefall as he slept. Blaster's grin turned sly.

"Are ya jealous, Bee? I'm sure we c'n find a femme fo' ya," he teased. Bumblebee scowled at Blaster.

"Not. Funny," Bee snapped. Ironhide chuckled.

"Yeah. Let the youngling grow up just a little bit more before we start talking about mates and sparklings. He wouldn't know what to do with a femme anyways," the black mech stated, patting the scout on the shoulder. Bee gave an irritated whir and slumped forward a little bit but let the conversation die.

"What do you think Prime's gonna do to those Seekers?" Sunstreaker suddenly asked from across the room. Even though Breakfree and Flamefall had fallen asleep, Bluewing was still awake, even if only by a little bit. The mechling had woken up only a breem after the other two had fallen asleep, and now, he was listlessly staring ahead as he chewed on the fingers of his Breakfree plushie. Sunstreaker was absently rubbing the base of the mech's winglets, which twitched every now and again.

"I don' really know. Screamer was talkin' 'bout Seeker initiation and trine bonds. I ain't got a clue wha' 'e meant, eithuh. I jus' know tha' it ain't gonna end well. It can't."

"I hope he brings them here so I can use my cannons to teach the slaggers a lesson," Ironhide mumbled, clearly remembering his last confrontation with the Command Trine. Sunstreaker gave a feral grin.

"Yeah, and I can show them what happens when you hurt my twin," the yellow mech added darkly. Blaster rolled his optics at the two violent mechs.

"How do ya eva plan ta raise a sparklin' if ya always talk like tha'?" Blaster asked. "Sparklin's need love an' peace, no' vi'lence an' 'ate."

"I'll be peaceful once all the 'Cons are perminently offline," the sociopath stated. Blaster sighed heavily. Poor Bluewing was going to have an interesting life, to say the least. Blaster's attention was instantly on the femlet against his chest armor when he felt her stirring. Purple optics flicked on blearily, and little white winglets flicked lightly as developing systems whirred to life.

"Mine?" she squeaked quietly. She could feel that familiar warmth in her spark. A louder squeak rose from Bluewing, who was now wide awake due to the sound of his leader's voice. Breakfree twittered as she looked over at her wing mate. "Mine."

_**Squeak squeak click whir buzz**_**.** Breakfree cocked her head at Bluewing. He was strangely chipper. Why was he so chipper when she was so sluggish? The sound of an opening door grabbed her easily diverted attention. She recognized the blue mech that walked into the medbay as the mech that spent the most time with her opiluk in his sick bot room. She watched in fascination as the door hissed shut behind him. Her optics moved to the blue mech when he started speaking, even though his words were gibberish.

"The team is heading back. Barricade's weapons are all offline, and he is waiting interrogation. The Seekers have agreed to come peacefully, and we are not to attack them. I will prepare the hatchlings' bottles, and we can give them back to their guardians once they've had a chance to process the energy," Jolt began as he went through the process of setting up the three bottles. "Ratchet will check up and probably discharge Sideswipe from the 'bay once he gets here. Ironhide, you're probably stuck in here for another cycle, and Jazz should be back on his pedes in maybe three more solar cycles." With that, Jolt moved around the room, distributing bottles. Breakfree squealed in delight when the bottle was placed in Blaster's servo. More yummy stuff! Her engine revved hungrily as she reached for the bottle.

"Hold up, li'l femme. Gotta ge'chu situated first," Blaster chuckled. He deftly maneuvered the femme onto her back and steered the bottle to her lip components. Breakfree didn't hesitate in grabbing the tape deck's fingers and shoving the rubber nozzle into her mouth. She purred as the sweet goodness flowed into her mouth.

"BAH!" a small voice yelled in irritation.

"Now, don't give me that. You need to refuel before Prime gets back," Ironhide chastised.

"Bah bah bah _bah_!" Flamefall squealed in ire. He did _not_ feel like refueling. He _felt_ like recharging. The big, black mech had interrupted a rather nice nap, and Flamefall was in no way going to cooperate with the rude mech. Ironhide sighed as he pressed the nozzle against the stubborn winglet's mouth plates, then grunted irritably when the mechling refused to oblige. Breakfree glanced over at them, still drinking the viscous med-grade. She didn't understand why Flamefall was being so difficult. This stuff tasted great! As if by cue, the flow of energon into her mouth suddenly stopped. Breakfree gave a disturbed whimper as she sucked on the nozzle in an attempt to get more liquid out. No luck.

"Tha's all fo' now, femlet," Blaster said in a mock mournful voice. Breakfree let out a high whine. She wanted more. Why weren't they giving her anymore? Bluewing stopped drinking when he heard the distress in his leader's voice. He looked over at the femme and squeaked loudly. Breakfree looked over at him with sad optics.

_**Squeak buzz chirrup click.**_ She could have the rest of his, if she wanted it. He would happily sacrifice for her.

_**Squeak squeak click chirp.**_ No, he needed to finish his own. She wasn't mean enough to steal his yummy stuff. Bluewing cocked his helm, then returned to drinking his fill.

"It's weird to see them interact. It's as if they can understand each other," Sunstreaker noted as he watched Bluewing finish his bottle.

"Many bots say that sparklings have a language all their own," Jolt interjected. A loud squeak of surprise rose from Blaster's arms, then a similar one rose from Ironhide's. The black mech-wrecker took that opportunity to move the nozzle into Flamefall's mouth. The mech gave a squeak of outrage that quieted into a purr when the liquid hit is taste sensors. Blaster grinned.

"They sho'e are fickle li'l thin's, ain' they?" he noted.

"Indeed," Ironhide mumbled. Blaster looked down at Breakfree as she wiggled in his grip.

"Mine? Mine? Mine mine mine. Mine," she mumbled as she stared at the medbay's entrance.

"I suppose this means they have returned," Jolt surmised as Breakfree continued to mutter her word. As if summoned, the door opened to reveal Ratchet leading three Seekers, one Autobot leader, and a Praxian door-winger. Breakfree, however, ignored everybot that wasn't bright chartreuse.

"MINE!" she squealed joyfully. She wriggled in Blaster's grip, trying with all her might to jump out of his servos to get to her mech-creator. Her movements stilled when she heard another familiar voice.

"You fool! Why the slag are you holding her like that?" Starscream snarled. Blaster's visor lit up.

"B'cause, where I c'me fr'm, creat'rs 'old their sparkl'ns," Blaster snapped in his smooth voice. Starscream shoved past Ratchet and moved towards the femling, who was staring at the Seeker leader with a look akin to awe.

"Well, you are not a Seeker, and ground-pounding sparklings do not take being held in one's servos as an invitation to jump and test their underdeveloped thrusters!" Starscream ignored the sound of a specific weapons speacialist's cannons onlining as lifted Breakfree out of Blaster's hands before the mech could protest and turned to Ratchet. "Rule number one is Seeker upraising: a Seeklet stays perched on a creator's wings until they can fly unaided. Since you grounders _have _no wings, we'll have to settle for a perch on the back or shoulder." With that said, Starscream placed Breakfree on his left shoulder. The femlet followed a base instinct and scooted closer to his left wing before latching on with blunted and underdeveloped claws.

"What if she's jarred and falls off?" Ratchet asked in an accusing tone. "I doubt you will have enough time to catch her."

"She won't fall. It is like this with every Seeklet. Through a creator bond, you can tell when the Seeklet is getting tired or hungry. Those are the only times they should be in your hands, unless they are distressed for some reason," Thundercracker interjected.

"If a Seeklet is on their creator's wings, they can easily be comforted by the Seeker's engine, and they can be suspended in the air at the same time. A Seeklet rests on the shoulder like this just after they have refueled so that they can rest while their frame distributes the energon," Skywarp added as he gently rubbed the back of his claw against the femlet's developing wings. Breakfree purred and preened at the unexpected attention she was receiving. This was how life was supposed to be, she was certain. However, she wanted to see her opiluk. She hadn't seen him since the door had tried to eat him. She looked over her shoulder at the medic, who appeared to be working very hard at containing himself, and she reached out one hand to him as the other held on to the big Seeker's wing.

"Mine," she summoned, trying to make her opiluk move closer and retrieve her. The three Seekers chuckled**.**

**~Why doesn't it surprise me that her first ground-pounder's word is that?~** Skywarp questioned as he studied the femlet. Breakfree's optics widened. These mechs didn't speak gibberish! She could understand them! Her winglets wiggled in excitement.

**~Femme must be confused. This is a Seeker's language. That is why you understand it. It is the language you were programmed with.~** Thundercracker explained with a smile. Breakfree squealed in delight. She couldn't speak the language yet, but she could at least understand it.

_**Squeak squeak chirp click?**_ Flamefall called from across the room. He didn't know why Breakfree was broadcasting such happy emotions through the trine bond, but he really wanted to know. His call made Breakfree look away from the two Seekers standing in front of her, and in her movement, she caught sight of Ratchet again.

"Mine," she told Skywarp, pointing at the CMO. Skywarp frowned, confused, then his gaze darkened when he looked at the medic.

"So you're the one who bonded with the leader," he noted with disgust.

"Yes, I am, and I would be much obliged if you would return _my_ sparkling to me before I am forced to sedate you all," Ratchet spat. Three jet engine roared in anger at the threat.

"We are causing no harm," Thundercracker snapped as he took a menacing step forward, only to be stopped by his trine leader's hand on his shoulder.

"He is her creator, and such has the right to worry for the safety of his creation when in the grasp of his enemy," Starscream intervened after calming himself down. "Do not tell me you would not do the same."

"Yes, trine leader," Thundercracker replied submissively as he took a step back to allow his trine leader passage. Starscream gently lifted Breakfree in his hand and placed her on Ratchet's shoulder. The femlet looked confused by the lack of wings, but instead latched on to the bar that ran along the roof of his H2 alt mode and held his search lights. She twittered and clicked at her mech-creator, joyful at his return, and she happily relayed her feelings through their bond.

**/It's nice to see you, too, sparklet,/** Ratchet assured her as he moved to look over his current patients.

"Bah!" Flamefall greeted loudly as his own opiluk approached.

"Greetings, young one," he murmured with a smile. Flamefall squealed at the combination of the love flowing into his spark and the smooth baritone voice speaking aloud to him. Optimus scooped his little mech into his arms and deposited him on his broad shoulder as he had seen Starscream do. Flamefall squeaked in utter confusion. He couldn't hear his creator's spark, and why on Cybertron was he on his creator's shoulder? He buzzed irritably and scooted himself over to Prime's smokestack and grabbed on. All attention turned to Sunstreaker, who grimaced.

"Slag no," he exclaimed. "The monster will _ruin _my paintjob!"

"Then, by all means, allow me to care for the mechling. I'm sure your medic can sever the bond," Skywarp said, stepping forward with barely concealed hope. Sunstreaker scowled at the Seeker and deliberately placed Bluewing on his shoulder. The mechling looked around idly for a wing, as his instincts told him to, but found none. He gave a small whine, gaining only a chuckle from the bots around him. Without another choice, the seeklet burrowed himself down in a little rut in between two plates of armor. Sunstreaker grimaced and fought back a shudder that threatened to rise. Ratchet checked Sideswipe's wounds quickly, then turned to the three Seekers.

"I have finished with the others, so let's get you three checked up and refueled," the medic said in a no-nonsense voice. Breakfree squeaked once, as if to back up the medic's order and nuzzled her helm into the armor on the mech's shoulder. Starscream frowned, knowing that the medic couldn't feel the sign of affection. The frown turned into a scowl as he added that to the list of why grounders shouldn't adopted Seeklets. If she were on a Seeker's shoulder, she would be nuzzling a wing, and she most certainly wouldn't have gone unnoticed. Slaggin' Autobots just always had to interfere and screw everything up. Well, if he had anything to do with it, before long, the Seeklets would love him and his trine far more than these soft Autobots. He would see to it. Starscream smirked inwardly as he sat down. He would see to it, if it was the last thing he did.

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><p>Not quite how I wanted to end this chapter, but I wanted it updated before I had to leave for dinner, so that I could start on <em>Through a Cybercat's Optic<em> since that one is actually more popular than all my other stories. :) If ya haven't read it, stop on by. I swear I'm also working on the last chapter of _A Little Burst of Sunlight._ It's just hard for me to figure out how to end it. :(


	12. Chapter 12

As you can see, I haven't abandoned this, and I promise I won't. I am set on finishing this fic, so after almost ten months, here's an update, and I plan to have another one out later this week. I won't be putting up review replies seeing as some of them are, well, nine months old. Next update will have replies, though. Enjoy. :)

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><p>Klik- 1.2 seconds<p>

Breem- 8.3 minutes

Joor- 6 hours

Orn- 2 weeks

Vorn- 83 years

**::Comm. link::**

_**Sparkling speak.**_

**((Emotions through bonds))**

**/Bond speak/**

**~Seeker language~**

Disclaimer: I do not own transformers. I do own all the OCs, though, and the plot. Enjoy, folks.

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><p><span>Chapter 12<span>

They were easily the center of attention. Bluewing was squirming on his stomach while Breakfree attempted to roll on top of him. Flamefall was preventing her movement by hugging her around the middle. So focused on her goal was she that she didn't realize that the extra weight of her orange-winged trinemate was keeping her from rolling over as she wanted to. So, the femlet would try with all her might to roll over, giving little grunts of strain, before being dragged back down onto her back by Flamefall's weight. She twittered irritably, not understanding why she couldn't flip over. She had done it only kliks ago! What had changed?

"Yep," Sunstreaker asserted from his spot beside his twin. "Not a dull moment."

"I believe they should spend at least fourteen joors with us every half orn." The statement seemed to come out of nowhere and caused all talking in the medbay to cease. All optics turned to Starscream, who had spoken the words. The Seeker wasn't looking at the mechs in the room, but rather was focused on the sparklings.

"Now, see here," Ironhide started.

"There is nothing to see. They require specific knowledge that can only come from an adult Seeker. If you recall, Prime, that is why we are here in the first place," Starscream replied.

"Don' listen to 'im, Prime. He'll only teach them until their first flyin' lesson. Then, he'll take them all away!" Ironhide snapped.

"Do not worry, Ironhide. They will not take them away when the trip will strain their spark bonds," Ratchet interjected easily. He disconnected the chord that connected his datapad to Sideswipe's processor. "Well, unfortunately for the _Ark_, but very fortunate for me, Sideswipe can now officially leave the medbay," the medic announced with a wide grin. With that, the chartreuse mech slammed his palm onto the berth right beside Sideswipe's left audio receptor.

"_OhPrimus_!" Sideswipe exclaimed. He leapt off the berth with a start and looked around wildly as his logic center listed scenario after scenario of what was going on. Then the rest of his processor caught up with him. "Primus, the pain!" he wailed dramatically.

"Oh, shut up, you slaggin idiot, and get outta my medbay!" Ratchet snarled. Sideswipe crossed his arms over his chest and pouted.

"You'd think a medic would care more about his patients, especially the ones that visit him the most and care the most," Sideswipe muttered. "Ow!" he yelped when a wrench rebounded off his helm. Breakfree's giggles filled the room.

"What? You think that's funny?" Sideswipe asked in a playful voice as he moved towards the three seeklets. Three engines roared defensively, causing the red twin to stop in his tracks and turn around. "Seekers? What the slag are _they _doing here_?"_

"Teaching your sparkling how to be a seeker. It is something that they need to know," Optimus said diplomatically. Sideswipe's optics dimmed momentarily, then brightened in excitement.

"Oh, yeah! I have a kid now!" Sideswipe chirped, delighted by this fact. Skywarp's turbines spun in irritation.

"This slagger treats this like it's a game," Skywarp snarled. Sideswipe sent him a withering look.

"Believe me, Deceptiscum, with Sunstreaker as a parent, Blue'll _need_ somebot more laid back," he said flatly. "And besides, you're only here to give us pointers. These three can be taught to fly by Aerialbots." Three turbine engines roared furiously at this remark, but Sideswipe ignored them as he moved to Sunstreaker's side. "C'mon, Blue! Let us explore the vast expanse of the _Ark_ together and annoy mine enemies!" he said dramatically, lifting the seeklet from his brother's shoulder and holding him up high. Bluewing giggled and squealed happily at the extreme height, causing his red opiluk to smile. Sideswipe grinned as he settled the little mechlet down on his shoulder. Bluewing burrowed down into one of the ruts between his armor, as he done with Sunstreaker and held on as Sideswipe wheeled himself out of the medbay.

**~We'll have to work more with that one to ensure that he doesn't grow up like his… opiluk.~** Skywarp stated to his brothers. Ratchet was silent as he approached Starscream with a basic systems scanner.

"Where are they in development?" the trine leader questioned as he watched the medic work.

"They have not attempted walking or crawling yet, but I'm fairly certain they will start trying fairly soon," Ratchet informed him.

"Mine!" Breakfree called out suddenly. Ratchet, understanding what she wanted, moved over to the table she was held on and scooped her up before plopping her on his shoulder. She latched on and trilled happily as he moved back to Starscream. Optimus immediately moved in and lifted up Flamefall. The Autobot leader handed the seeklet his Breakfree doll and watched in amusement as the wingtip was shoved in his mouthplates.

"I would like to take them on a flight after their next refuel," Starscream announced. "It will relax them and put them in recharge, which will make it easier for their systems to grow accustomed to being in the air." Ratchet didn't argue this since he knew that logically, that made sense. A bot's systems always adjusted easier while they were in recharge.

"And how long will this flight last?" Sunstreaker asked suspiciously. Starscream shrugged.

"A few breems, perhaps," he replied.

"There's no getting around that, Sunstreaker. The sooner they are taken on a flight, the better," Optimus stated as he moved forward. Flamefall twittered as he looked at the three larger seekers. He glanced up at his opiluk and chirped to get his attention. Prime met the little one's gaze with a smile. "Yes?" Flamefall twittered and held his arms out to Thundercracker. The navy blue seeker smiled at the seeklet and held his own arms out, glancing up at Prime in question as he did so.

"It appears that Flamefall recognizes you," Optimus stated as he handed his creation over. Thundercracker smiled as he nuzzled his helm against Flamefall's before placing him on his shoulder.

"Yes. I was his first caretaker when he was still on the _Nemesis_," Thundercracker explained. He smiled when he felt Flamefall nuzzling into his wing, and he teasingly nuzzled his helm against the little mechling's helm. Flamefall twittered as he abandoned the wing to map out the side of Thundercracker's helm. Optimus hummed thoughtfully as he watched the interaction between his mech creation and the seeker.

"Tell me, Thundercracker, would you be willing to be his official guardian?" Optimus asked. All three seekers froze. Skywarp's turbines revved as he looked at Thundercracker in jealousy. Thundercracker ignored his youngest brother, though, in favor of looking over at his trine leader. Starscream studied his brother then turned his gaze to Optimus Prime.

"He has my permission," Starscream claimed. Thundercracker's engine roared with joy as he lifted Flamefall off his shoulder and cuddled him to his chest. The larger seeker reached out his spark eagerly to the little mech and grinned when the bond was immediately accepted. Feelings of confusion and curiosity filled the link, and Thundercracker sent him love and excitement. The mechlet replied in the same fashion as he bounced in Thundercracker's hands. Thundercracker finally pulled out of his bliss and turned red optics on the Autobot leader.

"Can I keep him for the joor?" he all but begged. Optimus hesitated, obviously wondering if it was a good idea, but nodded after a klik of thought. After all, Thundercracker wouldn't take him away when the rest of the mechling's trine was still on the ship. Thundercracker grinned as he placed Flamefall back on his shoulder. "Thank you, my Prime," he said formally and in doing so, made his stay on the Autobot vessel permanent.

* * *

><p>Bluewing clicked in curiosity as he glanced around the room. It was the same room from earlier, the one he had been introduced in. He didn't really mind the room, but he didn't like how many people gathered there. He was, by nature, a mechling that did not like crowds. And it wasn't helping that his red opiluk was rushing around the room, introducing him to every mech he saw as "<em>his<em> little sparkling with wings."

"Hey, Gears! Meet _my_ little sparkling! He's a flyer, too!" Sideswipe chirped as he approached the minibot. Gears scowled as he looked up at the sparkling in question, who had long since curled up in a defensive ball of stress.

"Primus, Sideswipe, you're going to make the mechling have a spark attack before his spark's even fully developed," he groused. Sideswipe scowled as he hugged the little mech against his body.

"Please. He loves the attention. All sparklings do," Sideswipe said in a mock snobby voice. Brawl scowled from his spot across the table from Gears.

"He's not a plaything, you idiot, and he _doesn't_ like attention. Primus, you're going to be a terrible creator unit," Brawn claimed angrily. His optics momentarily dimmed before he continued the statement. "At least Sunstreaker could keep the mech from being frightened. You can't even do that! Then again, a fighter mech like you probably can't comprehend emotions, can you?"

"Take that back, fragger, or I will slag you!" Sideswipe snarled, ready to attack the smaller mech.

"Slag."

Every bot froze, and attention turned to the blue-winged mechlet that was curled up against Sideswipe's chassis. Bluewing, feeling the many stares, curled up even tighter and simply repeated his word.

"Slag," he squeaked.

"Aw, slag. Prime is gonna kill me," Sideswipe muttered. Bluewing twittered when he heard his weird opiluk saying his word. The rec room door hissed open, and Sideswipe winced when his name was called. He slowly turned to see his brother striding purposefully toward him. Bluewing, however, squealed happily at his sane opiluk's voice.

"Brawn told me you were tormenting our sparkling," Sunstreaker stated flatly, grimacing a bit at the wording.

"Slag!" Bluewing chirped excitedly as he looked up at his yellow opiluk. The sparkling reached for Sunstreaker, who looked like he wanted to put the sparkling's new word into practice as he glared at the mechs around him.

"Who taught it to him?" Sunstreaker snarled lowly as he plucked Bluewing from his idiot brother's grasp and placed him on his yellow shoulder.

"That would be your brother," Gears stated as he rubbed his elbow joint. "Elbow joints going out of commission. I'll have ta visit Ratchet soon for a replacement."

"I know what you mean. One of my gears in my left arm is beginning to go out. I gotta get it replaced before it goes out. Don't want it to strip in battle." And with that, the minibots continued their conversation, completely ignoring the twins standing beside them. Sunstreaker growled lowly at his twin, who was giving him a sheepish grin.

"It's not photon science, Sideswipe! Watch your language when he's around!" Sunstreaker snarled.

**::We are arriving in the Beta-5 Sector. Optimus Prime and Ratchet, report to the Communications Room. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, report to the Medbay.:: **Prowl's voice filtered over the ship's comm. Bots immediately looked around, gossiping about possible reasons to being in the Beta-5 Star Sector, while the frontliner twins strode purposefully from the room, one sheepish, the other irritable.

* * *

><p>Optimus Prime waited patiently for Blaster to open the comm. link with Ultra Magnus's ship, the <em>Xantium<em>. Flamefall had been left with Thundercracker, as promised, and Optimus was shocked to realize that he felt no worry for his sparkling. He knew without a doubt that Thundercracker wouldn't hurt the sparkling he was guarding. With that reassuring notion in mind, Optimus was more than ready to face the next problem that would no doubt present itself during this meeting.

"Greetings, Optimus Prime," Ultra Magnus greeted immediately as his torso and helm appeared on the screen. Optimus nodded his helm.

"Salutations, my friend," Optimus replied easily. Ultra Magnus glanced past him through the screen.

"I would have expected your second and third to be here, as well. Has something happened?" Magnus questioned, his optic ridges furrowing in worry. Optimus glanced behind him at Ratchet, who was sending Magnus a rather scathing glare.

"I suppose you could say it has," Optimus noted as he turned back to face the screen. "You will be debriefed once you are onboard. Have your mechs report to the conference room immediately. There can be no side-trips until all is explained," Optimus stated.

"Very well. Commencing boarding protocols," Ultra Magnus replied, and the screen flicked off.

"Well, Prime, guess we gotta get goin'," Blaster surmised immediately, obviously excited to meet with the members of his old unit. Optimus smiled.

"Indeed. It is high time we greet our old comrades," the leader agreed, moving to the door. Blaster jumped up and followed his leader and his CMO out the door, grinning the whole way. It had been a long time since he had seen his teammates.

**::Prepare to be boarded. All Autobots to their boarding stations:: **Prowl ordered over the ship's comm. Just like that, the halls filled with excited and curious mechs moving to their assigned positions. There wouldn't be a single hall unmanned due to the paranoia that an enemy might have hitched a ride on their comrade's ship without their knowledge. Optimus smiled as he watched his mechs move like a well-oiled machine. There were no faltering steps, and there was no confusion. Every mech knew their part and made sure they performed perfectly. Ratchet broke off from their formation at the third hallway they crossed, heading toward the medbay.

**::Autobot boarding vessel: docking in docking station. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe: report to medbay. Optimus Prime and Ratchet: report to docking station::** Prowl's voice said.

**::I've got sparklings to watch, you slagger, and I don't want Sideswipe and Sunstreaker in my medbay with those seekers without a third party there to slag them if they start throwing insults!:: -Ratchet**

**:: … Very well… Optimus Prime: report to docking station:: **

Optimus grinned as he approached the large door that led to the docking station. Two mechs stood beside the door, and both straightened up and saluted him as he passed. Optimus gave them nods of acknowledgement before opening the door.

The docking station was a very large part of the ship and held four Autobot escape pods big enough to carry every mech off the ship should the need arise. In addition to those four pods, there were two spots for small-sized ships and three spots for smaller pod-type. The _Anthem_ was docked in the first spot meant for smaller ships. The small ship likely held ten mechs, and the _Streamline_, another small-sized ship, was docking in the remaining spot. Optimus strode up to the ships, waiting patiently as the second ship's door hissed open.

"Optimus Prime," Ultra Magnus said with a grin as he stepped out of the _Streamline_. Optimus stepped forward and raised his spark signal in greeting. Magnus clasped Optimus's hand in his own before turning slightly to face the two ships. "You said you had a surprise," Magnus began. The door to the _Anthem_ finally opened, and the sound of irritable shouting could be heard.

"I told you that was how you opened it, but nobot listens to _me_," a feminine voice snapped. Optimus stared open-mouthed at the femme as she stepped out of the ship.

"Elita," he breathed, as if the word itself was sacred. The magenta femme in question blinked when she felt her bond reactivating after so many vorns of silence. She looked to her right and gasped when she saw the tall mech standing beside the Wrecker leader.

"Optimus!" she exclaimed in excitement. She proceeded to dash in his direction before launching herself into his arms. Optimus grunted and took a step back as he held his mate, who peppered his faceplates with kisses while surging the bond with love. He smiled when she stopped the public display of affection to nuzzle into his chestplates. Optimus purred in happiness as he held her close.

"Optimus, you have another bond," Elita murmured with a frown as she looked up at her mech. Optimus smiled down at her.

"All will be explained," he promised.

"Now that you two are reacquainted," a irate-looking blue femme snapped, "why don't you tell me where Ironhide is and why he's not here giving me the same treatment."

"Chromia, greetings to you as well," Optimus said with an amused smirk. "Come, let us go to the conference room. Much has happened, and you need to be debriefed before you greet your fellow Autobots."

* * *

><p>All for this chapter. Kinda short, but it's something, <em>and<em> you get a promise of another update. :D Review!


	13. Chapter 13

Klik- 1.2 seconds

Breem- 8.3 minutes

Joor- 6 hours

Orn- 2 weeks

Vorn- 83 years

**::Comm. link::**

_**Sparkling speak.**_

**((Emotions through bonds))**

**/Bond speak/**

**~Seeker language "Seekanth"~**

Disclaimer: I do not own transformers. I do own all the OCs, though, and the plot. Enjoy, folks.

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 13<span>

"Mine," Breakfree mumbled as she played with Starscream's hands.

**~Are you having fun, my spark?~** Starscream asked with a small grin. His reply was a delighted squeal.

"Mine!" she trilled as she stuck the side of Starscream's claw in her mouth. The mech gave an indulgent smile, allowing her to chew on his finger if it meant holding her close.

**~Can you say "Starscream?"~** the seeker cooed.

**~'Ar'eam!~ **Breakfree trilled, wiggling her wings a bit as she fumbled over the language. Starscream smiled at her, proud that she was at least working to speak in their language. After all, as a seeklet, Seekanth was the only language she understood.

**~She's a smart little thing.~** Skywarp noted as he rubbed her wing. Breakfree twittered cheerfully, letting free a small purr as she enjoyed the two seekers' attentions.

**~Indeed. Playful, too. We were certainly blessed by their survival.~** Starscream noted with a smile.

"I bet they're fillin' her mind with propaganda in that seeker language," Ironhide told Ratchet as he fiddled with his hip joint.

"I doubt it," Ratchet replied flatly. Ironhide gave him a _look_.

"You honestly trust them?" Ironhide questioned. Ratchet gave a noncommittal grunt.

"At this point, I don't think it matters if we trust them or not. They are needed, and I see no reason to follow their every footstep. Seekers are the protectors of the young, and they will allow no harm to come to those sparklings, especially since they're seeklets," Ratchet noted.

"Mine," Breakfree called out. Ratchet turned to address her, but their attention was drawn away by the opening of a door. All optics were locked on Sunstreaker as he stomped into the room with a joyful Bluewing in his arms. Sideswipe was trailing after him with a sheepish expression on his face, along with a lovely dent.

"Sunny, I said I was sorry," Sideswipe claimed. Sunstreaker whirled on him, engine roaring in fury.

"'Sorry' won't change anything," he snapped. "And don't call me that," he added as he stalked to the closest berth, which stood across from the seekers.

"What did he do?" Ratchet asked hesitantly, looking between the brothers. If Sunstreaker was this riled up, Sideswipe must have done something serious to piss him off, like painting him green…

"Mine!" Breakfree called out, delighted by her wingmate's presence.

"Slag!" Bluewing called back. Every mech in the room froze, with the exception of Bluewing, who was attempting to will himself into Starscream's hands so he could cuddle with his leader, and Flamefall, who was mapping out his new guardian's upper wing. Ratchet pulled a wrench from subspace and slapped it menacingly against his other palm. Without hesitation, Sunstreaker pointed at his brother.

"I've actually watched my language around the little monster. You can credit my _brother_ with teaching him his first word," Sunstreaker stated, throwing his brother to the dogs without even a hint of guilt. Ratchet's engine snarled as he launched the wrench at the red twin.

"Ow!" Sideswipe yelped, staggering back from the blow as Breakfree erupted into amused giggles. The three seekers peered down at Breakfree with small smiles.

"Well, we cannot deny that she is _your_ sparkling, medic," Starscream noted dryly.

"Mine?" Breakfree squeaked as she noticed the three seekers looking at her. **~'Ar'eam.~**

**~Yes, I am Starscream. Star. Scream.~**

**~S'ars'eam!~**

**~She's getting better.~** Thundercracker noted as he straightened back up. Flamefall twittered as he studied the wing he held. With a click on curiosity, he opened his mouthplates and attempted to eat said wing. Thundercracker jolted at the feeling and looked over at the winglet.

**~That is not for eating, mechling.~** Thundercracker informed him. Flamefall gnawed on the wing a bit, trying to figure out what it was made of, before Thundercracker sent a gentle rebuke through the bond. Flamefall immediately released the wing and cuddled into the curve of Thundercracker's neck, not wanting to get in trouble again.

"Slag?" Bluewing chirped.

"No, Blue, we don't say that word," Sunstreaker rebuked.

"Slag?"

**~That's a bad word, Bluewing. Don't say that word anymore.~** Starscream stated in Seekanth. Bluewing chirped sadly, but nodded in understanding. **~Good mech. Can you say 'good'?~**

**~Goo'.~**

**~Very good! See how well you are learning?~** Starscream praised. Bluewing chirruped, happy with his new success. He chirped and looked up at his opiluk.

**~Goo'!~** he chirped. Sunstreaker smiled, but wasn't quite sure how he was supposed to respond.

**~He cannot understand our language, sparklet.~** Thundercracker stated. Bluewing clicked a bit, confused on this. _He_ could understand the language perfectly, so why couldn't his opiluk?

**::Optimus Prime to medbay. Bring the sparklings and seekers to the conference room:: -Optimus Prime**

**::Yes, sir:: -Ratchet**

"Okay, you lot, let's get going. Ironhide, keep an optic on Jazz. I will send Jolt in here to finish the work on your joint," Ratchet stated as he moved to the door.

"Mine!" Breakfree called out in a worried voice. Ratchet paused for a klik then strode back to Starscream's side. He gently lifted the sparkling from Starscream's shoulder and plopped her down on his own. Breakfree squeaked as she cuddled against the warm armor.

"Once this is finished, we will feed them, and you may take them for a flight," Ratchet informed Starscream. The royal trine leader nodded.

"Thank you," he said earnestly.

**~S'ars'eam!~** Breakfree chirped.

**~Yes, I'm coming as well.~** Starscream assured her as they all trouped through the medbay door.

* * *

><p>"Optimus, now that we are all here, perhaps you could tell us about this important secret," Magnus stated as they all settled down in the conference room. Optimus glanced at all the mechs and femmes in turn. Optimus sat at the heat of the rounded table. Elita sat beside him to the right. Then, moving counter-clockwise around the table, the officers sat with Chromia beside Elita, then Moonracer, then Kup, then Ultra Magnus, then Hot Spot, and finally, Silverbolt. The other mechs and femmes stood around the table. Flareup, Firestar, and Arcee stood in a cluster behind Chromia. Hotrod, Springer, and a mech known as Drift stood off to the side. The Protectobots stood behind their leader, glaring at the Wreckers every now and again, and the Aerialbots stood behind their leader, looking terribly bored.<p>

"I suppose I should start at the beginning. A half-orn ago, Jazz and Mirage returned from their missions. Jazz was deep undercover as the Decepticon third in command, and Mirage was taking scouting the _Nemesis_ to see why there was activity aboard it. What they found and brought home is nothing short of extraordinary." Prime paused here to smile, thinking of when the three seeklets first arrived.

"Well, what did they find?" Slingshot demanded. Optimus patiently waited to speak as Silverbolt admonished his subordinate.

"They brought home three sparklings, a trine of seeklets," Optimus stated. Mouths dropped open, and gasps filled the room. It was Airraid that broke the silence this time.

"Oh, ew! So the seekers-? Oh, gross! That's not even possible! They're mechs!" Airraid exclaimed. Several sounds of disgust filled the room at the mental picture Airraid had just lovingly painted for them.

"They found a way to give life to sparklings without the use of the Allspark or the… assistance of a femme," Optimus broke in, trying to get the meeting back on topic.

"So, Jazz and Mirage found those three sparklings, and you need the Aerialbots to teach them to fly and the Protectobots to help protect them," Ultra Magnus surmised.

"Yes. Well, no. The Royal Command Trine has made a treaty with us. They are allowed to teach and train the sparklings, and in return, they will not cause any trouble," Optimus stated. There was silence around the room for a few kliks.

"So… the Command Trine is here… and we can't attack them?" Blades asked finally, sounding rather torqued by this fact.

"Affirmative. If you attack them, they will fight back, and you _will not_ receive any aid in your skirmish. I have already made Thundercracker a guardian of one of the three. Now, I do not necessarily need the Aerialbots anymore, but I would still like to have the Protectobots join my unit simply because First Aid is the best when it comes to sparkling medical care. I would like to keep the femmes here as well because a sparkling needs a femme's attentions." There were chuckles from the other mechs as Prime said this.

"Very well," Ultra Magnus stated. "We will leave these femmes here with the exception of Arcee. She is part of my Wrecker unit, and I think Springer would be rather angry if I left her behind. I will take the Aerialbots back with me and leave the Protectobots, and I will send the remaining femmes from Elita's unit here once we have returned to our ship," Ultra Magnus stated.

"Can we meet the sparklings first?" Arcee asked in excitement. She was barely older than Bumblebee, and the only way she survived the youngling genocide was by the protection of the Wrecker unit. She, like Bumblebee, had never seen a sparkling before.

"Of course," Optimus replied smoothly. His optics dimmed as he sent out a comm. to the medbay, then they brightened again after he received the response.

"So," Kup began. "That turbo-revvin' punk Jazz got himself in the Decepticon ranks?"

"Affirmative. His designation was Quickstrike, I believe. Black paint, red visor," Optimus replied.

"Holy slag! I fought him on the battlefield!" Hotrod exclaimed suddenly. "He beat the slag outta me!" All attention moved to the youngling, who blushed a bit at the attention. "I mean, it wasn't too bad, and he didn't give me any serious injuries. He kept correcting my fighting style, though." Hotrod trailed off, sounding irritated by this fact.

"That would be Jazz," Optimus confirmed with a grin.

That was when the door opened. The first to walk in was Ratchet with little Breakfree huddled on his shoulder, staring up at the door as they passed through with an awed expression. She finally turned her attention from the door and caught sight of the many bots staring at her. She shuttered her optics in surprise, then she gave a delighted squeal. Ratchet looked over at her and saw that she had zeroed in on the Aerialbots.

"This is Breakfree," Ratchet said shortly. "Trine leader."

Sunstreaker followed close behind Ratchet. Bluewing was in his hands, and the sparkling was chewing on his Breakfree doll, completely ignoring the rest of the world. Sideswipe sulked after his brother, two dents decorating the red mech's helm. Following those mechs were the three seekers that made up the Command Trine. Starscream entered first, looking like the proud prince of Vos he once was. His wings were held up in pride, his chest puffed out slightly, and his back completely straight to achieve maximum height. Thundercracker came in second. A small orange-winged sparkling was perched precariously on his wing, but the seeker didn't seem to be worried. He paused in his steps when the seekling moved a bit on the wing. He started moving again when the seeklet settled again. Skywarp was the last one in, and the door closed behind him.

"Prime, Flamefall is safe and content," Thundercracker said in greeting, as was customary of a guarding seeker.

"My gratitude is offered," Prime said in reply. Thundercracker nodded and gently lifted Flamefall off his wing. He walked to the prime's side and gingerly placed the seeklet on the table in front of his adopted creator.

"This is Flamefall. I have adopted him as my own and named Thundercracker as his guardian," Optimus stated, casting Elita-One a sideways glance. He smiled when he saw that she was studying Flamefall in a new light. "Sunstreaker holds Bluewing. He doesn't like groups, and he doesn't like too much attention. The twins have formed a creator/creation bond with him." Snickers filled the room, but Optimus ignored them as he moved on. "You have already been informed of Breakfree's n—"

"Mine!" Breakfree squealed happily, effectively interrupting the prime's speech. Optimus chuckled at the femlet.

"Yes, I _am_ speaking of you, Breakfree," Optimus said. Breakfree twittered joyfully. "Breakfree is the trine leader. She loves attention and has an obsession with any type of kibble that resembles wings. This is why she focused on the Aerialbots almost immediately. She is also attracted to bright and shiny paintjobs, which is why she chose Ratchet to form a creation bond with," Optimus informed them.

**~S'ars'eam!~ **Breakfree twittered. "Mine!" She reached for Flamefall excitedly, and Ratchet smiled as he lifted her from his shoulder and set her on her stomach on the table beside her trinemate, pointedly ignoring the strange looks he was getting. Breakfree gave a delighted chirp as she looked around the table. She twittered cheerfully when she caught sight of Silverbolt. He was so close! All she had to do was get over Flamefall and scoot a few feet over. She gave a determined click as she raised herself to her hands and pedes. Her attention was momentarily diverted when she heard Starscream's turbines whir in excitement.

**~You have to bend your second leg joint a little more.~** Starscream instructed as he stepped in between Prime and Silverbolt. His wings raised a bit in his excitement as he bent over the table, his left arm bracing himself against the table top while the other floated in front of Breakfree.

"Is she trying to walk?" Sunstreaker asked in confusion. "She hasn't even tried crawling yet!"

"Seekers rarely crawl. It hurts our top leg joints after a few movements. It is normal for a seeklet to start walking abruptly like this. I surmise that she doesn't want to try rolling over again since she had such trouble with it last time," Starscream stated as he watched Breakfree struggle to get vertical. He grinned when she finally shifted her weight to her pedes and straightened up. Her wings immediately started pulling her backwards, and Starscream gently settled his free claw behind her.

**~Hold your balance here.~** he instructed, tapping her shoulder with his thumb as he helped hold her balance. Breakfree twittered her understanding and she attempted to shift her balance. She chirped in triumph as she took her first step forward.

"Mine!" she exclaimed, delighted that she was moving by herself.

"Slag!" Bluewing chirped in reply. The room went silent, the only sounds being Breakfree's whistles and Flamefall's curious chirps. Bluewing immediately noticed at the optics that were focused on him, and he burrowed down into his opiluk's arms, hiding behind his Breakfree plushie.

"Sideswipe misspoke in the rec room," Sunstreaker explained immediately.

**~Bluewing, what did we say about that word?~** Starscream asked in a stern voice, though he kept his optics on the femlet. Bluewing squeaked pitifully.

"Mine!" Breakfree chirped as she looked up at Starscream. She took one more step before plopping down on her rear. Starscream smiled as he picked her up and set her on his wing.

"So what conclusion did we come to, Prime?" Ratchet questioned as he looked around the room at the many gathered mechs and femmes.

"The Protectobots and the femmes will remain here with us," Optimus informed the medic. Ratchet nodded.

"Very good. We can see how far First Aid has progressed in his medical experience," Ratchet replied, fixing the mentioned bot with a _look_ and pointedly ignoring how the mech seemed to shrink back under his gaze. "And you can finally put into practice the sparkling care you learned in the Medical Mechanical University in Protihex."

"Magnus, I would like to extend an offer for you to remain aboard for a joor or two to refuel and give your team time to greet their friends," Optimus stated. Ultra Magnus nodded.

"I'm sure my mechs will appreciate being able to converse with their friends before leaving," he replied.

"Then I dismiss all of you. I'm sure you know where the rec room is, and I hope you find your stay hospitable," Optimus addressed the room.

"Finally," Slingshot muttered rather loudly. It seemed to be the unspoken thought of every young mech in the room seeing as they all left the room as quickly as possible. None of the femmes seemed to be in a hurry to move, and the older mechs seemed content to stay as well. Sideswipe had left with Hotrod, speaking of races and fights, but his golden twin had opted to stay, wanting to keep his sparkling out of seeker hands for as long as possible.

"If you come with me, Chromia, I'll take you to Ironhide," Ratchet stated. He looked over at Starscream. "I suppose you three are ready to feed the sparklings?"

"Yes. The sooner the better," Starscream replied. Thundercracker nodded to Prime before lifting Flamefall onto his shoulder.

"I will drop him off when we have finished our flight," Thundercracker promised.

"No," Elita replied. "We'll pick him up at the medbay. My prime and I have a bit of catching up to do. I would like for him to stay with us during our recharge cycle, though."

"Of course. Then we will be in the medbay when you are ready to pick him up."

With that said, every Cybertronian, with the exception of Optimus Prime and Elita-One, moved out the door, trailing after Ratchet. The two leaders watched the procession with amusement. They stood as the last few bots exited the room, and together, the two sparkmates left the room and moved to Optimus's quarters.

"How long do you think Ratchet will last before he starts throwing things at everybot?" Elita asked, imagining Ratchet's ire when he realizes that every femme, Kup, Ultra Magnus, Drift, Silverbolt, and half of the Protectobots had followed him.

"I don't think it matters, my femme, but if it bothers you, I would be more than willing to take your mind off it," Optimus purred as they approached the room. Elita grinned.

"We'll see. First, I want you to explain just how you ended up with a mechling seeker. I have a feeling it will be an interesting story."

* * *

><p>"She's so cute!" Arcee squealed as she cuddled Breakfree close, positively adoring the little femme's squeak and whistles. Starscream looked like he had just swallowed browned energon as he tried to reach the femme trine leader. It didn't help that the medbay was rather crowded with mechs and femmes. Arcee had somehow managed to snatch the femlet from his shoulder and had waded through the crowd until she was on the other side of the medbay, surrounded by femmes. Starscream, being the large mech he was, was having a bit more difficulty with this. He glanced around and saw that Sunstreaker and Thundercracker were equally surrounded by curious mechs.<p>

"I know! Hatchet, how did you end up with this sweetspark?" Chromia questioned from where she was perched on Ironhide's lap. Ratchet grumbled irritably, not even looking up from what he was doing. Chromia grinned.

"Do you think I could sparklingsit her until I have to leave?" Arce asked Flareup. Flareup shrugged.

"I don't see why not," the orange femme stated.

"I do! We are taking the sparklings for a flight once they have been refueled," Starscream broke in. Breakfree squeaked loudly when she heard this voice.

**~S'arS'eam!~** she chirped as she wriggled in Arcee's arms. Her winglets fluttered as she attempted to find her unofficial guardian.

"She is calling me. Hand her here," Starscream ordered, reaching over helms in an attempt to reach his charge.

"No way, Screamer!" Arcee snapped as she moved out of Starscream's reach. Breakfree twittered in distress as she reached for her guardian. She didn't know this femme, and she kept _squeezing_ her. Breakfree was in no way a doll. "I'm far safer than you are," Arcee said loftily as she cuddled Breakfree again. That, however, was the last straw for the femlet.

"Mine!" she shrieked before letting out an audio-piercing wail. The femmes staggered back from the femlet, hands covering their audio receptors. Bluewing and Flamefall, ever sensitive to their leader's plight, joined in her cries.

"Primus slaggit, femme," Ratchet grumped as he stomped to Arcee's side. "When she reaches for somebot else, you_ give her_ to somebot else," he snapped as he lifted the femlet from Arcee's arms and settled her over his spark.

"Calm down, sparklet. She didn't mean to hide you like that," Ratchet cooed. Breakfree quieted down as she tuned in to the sound of his thrumming spark. "That's a femme," he crooned as he handed her over to Starscream. "I'll have their bottles done in just a klik."

"Understood," the trine leader replied. Ratchet gave Arcee one more glare before moving back to where the three bottles sat.

"Primus, she has a serious vocal processor on her," Arcee mumbled as she rubbed her abused audios.

"Perhaps you have learned something from this," Starscream said condescendingly as he moved over to his brother's side to allow Breakfree to calm her wingmates. Arcee scowled at his back.

"What a jerk," she mumbled. Moonracer laughed.

"Does it matter? You're leaving in two joors," she replied.

"Yeah, but still," Arcee pouted. The femmes around her giggled at their youngest.

"Okay! Every bot that isn't a seeker, a surrogate creator, injured, or a medibot, beat it!" Ratchet snapped as he lifted the three bottles. The crowd seemed hesitant to move, but it didn't take more than one more threat from Ratchet to get them all out the door. Well, except for Chromia.

"I'm not leaving until Ironhide can leave," she stated bluntly as she held a glaring match with Ratchet. He growled a bit, but had to avert his attention to a certain femling when she started calling for him.

"Very well, but no inappropriate things while you're here. You can save that for when you two are in his quarters," Ratchet mumbled. Chromia grinned in triumph as she settled back against her mech's chest armor.

"Mine mine mine mine," Breakfree mumbled as she allowed Starscream to maneuver the bottle into her mouth. Her engine revved as she drank, small clicks escaping her vocal processor. For a while, that was the only sound in the medbay: the sounds of sparkling's refueling and contented squeaks and clicks.

"We were lucky to find them," Chromia murmured as she watched the three sparklings get fed.

"You mean, 'lucky to steal them,'" Skywarp snapped.

"Skywarp, stand down," Starscream ordered reflexively. Skywarp gave an irritated whine, but obeyed, opting to peer over Thundercracker's shoulder at Flamefall.

"How long do you think this flight will take?" Ratchet questioned as he moved to check on Jazz, who was mumbling a bit. Honestly, this was a good sign, because it meant that he was close to coming out of stasis.

"A few breems at the most. Just long enough to completely adjust their systems so that they won't be ill when they next fly," Starscream replied. Ratchet nodded in understanding.

"Wait, you're gonna let those three take your sparklings?" Chromia asked with a frown.

"Seekers need to fly, and who better to take them than the Royal Command Trine?" Starscream asked haughtily.

"SIlverbolt can—"

"Silverbolt is afraid of heights. Airraid and Slingshot are too reckless. Fireflight is doesn't pay enough attention. In reality, only Skydive could safely fly them, and he cannot take all three at once. It is far better for Starscream and his trine to take them," Ratchet said evenly. Breakfree chirped as she finished the bottle, sucking down the final drops before burping up air. Starscream passed the bottle to Ratchet, who immediately moved to clean it.

"Well, the trine leader is ready," Starscream murmured, smiling as he rubbed one of her winglets in an attempt to coax her into recharge.

"Mine," she squeaked as her optics dimmed. She gave one last whirr before dropping offline.

"Bluewing's in stasis," Sunstreaker said flatly. Skywarp blinked as he looked over at the mechling in the golden twin's arms.

"He didn't even finish his energon," the jet noted with a frown.

"I know he just… dropped offline," Sunstreaker replied. Starscream grinned.

"He must be the second," the leader noted. The grounders all looked at him. "It was the same with me and Thundercracker when we were sparklings. When I got tired and fell into recharge, TC offlined at the same moment, no matter what he was doing."

"So Breakfree is the trine leader, Bluewing is the second, and Flamefall is the third?" Ratchet asked. Starscream nodded. Ratchet snorted. "Figures Prime's sparkling is the third."

"Wouldn't Flamefall be better suited as the second, though?" Sunstreaker questioned as he maneuvered Bluewing into a more comfortable position in his arms.

"It doesn't matter. The trine is set, and it will remain this way until they offline," Starscream stated. Flamefall gave a small cough before he joined his two wingmates in the world of dreams.

"Time to fly!" Skywarp said enthusiastically. Sunstreaker grimaced as he handed his sparkling over to the youngest of the Command Trine.

"We will take good care of them," Starscream promised as he situated Breakfree in his cockpit. Thundercracker and Skywarp followed his example, placing the two sparklings in the cockpits that were situated on their chests. On instinct, the three sparklings cuddled closer to the seekers' sparks, which were situated right behind their cockpits.

"We will be back in a few breems," Starscream assured them, and they left the room to take the seeklings on their first flight.

* * *

><p><strong>XxShadowfangxX:<strong> :D Yep. Finally got around to bringing it off its unofficial hiatus. The trines are back! =)

**Angel897:** Glad you like it. :)

**Mercedes Wolfcry:** Lol. Is it?

**KuroIchi30866: **I'm glad you kept it, too! I would understand why you would've deleted it, though. :) I need to follow your example and trim down my alerts list. If they haven't updated since 2010, I guess they won't start now. :\

**Guest:** Thank you very much. Glad to make you :).

**Luna Uchiha666:** Yeah. Bluewing's new word will slowly get around the ship XD Just wait until Prowl finds out. Sides will lose some of his free time.

**LunarShadowAngel:** Glad you like it. :) I have fun writing sparkling fluff. Hope you enjoyed the update.

**Vivian Hale:** :3 I always pictured TC to be the kind who loves sparklings. In my 'verse, all Seekers are good with seeklings. Not necessarily all sparklings, but seeker sparklings in specific. :)

**Autobot Echo:** I didn't put a lot of Elita/ Flamefall fluff in this one, because I wanted them to go for their first flight first, but she will definitely be spending time with her mate and new sparkling next chapters :)

* * *

><p>So Breakfree has started walking, Primus help the <em>Ark<em>. The femmes are staying behind with the Protectobots, and the Seekers are gonna take the seeklets on their first flight. Fun stuffs, right? And writing Optimus/Elita is so awkward after Through a Cybercat's Optics. i feel like I'm making Prime cheat on Moonstrike -_-''

Yeah, so let me say this so it's understood. Sideswipe is a terrible father. I've always seen Sunstreaker as being the more responsible of the two. Dunno why, but I have, and Sideswipe really isn't ready to be a father. He likes the idea of having a sparkling, and he doesn't mind sparklingsitting, but taking care of a sparkling and being a father are two totally different things, if you catch my dirft. He'll get better, but one does't become a good daddy overnight. :)


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